The Accidental Governess
by mquest
Summary: Def. AU for the most part. Maria is hired as the English Tutor the summer before the Anchluss. In my story she is a widowed mother to two children. I'm trying to keep the story the same yet adding a little more spunk to her character.
1. Chapter 1

Maria crinkled her nose as she turned the rusted old pickup truck into the circular driveway of the posh house that stood at its end. She desperately tried not to grind the gears of the truck as she screeched its engine to a halt. Drawing in a breath she looked down at the dowdy dress that she was forced to wear and then at the two devils sitting silently beside her who were the reason for her sudden change in wardrobe before they had left the Abbey. She threw them a smirk that hopefully let them know that, although Mommy loves you very much I secretly hate you both right now. They both threw her their toothiest grins and began another round of apology. She held up her hand to silence them.

"It's fine really. Now listen Ike and Mike, I need to go in there and get our key. You two are to stay here in this truck." She gave them her best; you had better do as I am saying looks or else as she continued her drill sergeant list. "You are not to get out of this truck for any reason, "

"What if it's on fire?" Her wise cracking son interrupted her.

"Even if it's on fire, keep your butts in this truck. Don't touch anything, don't touch each other. As a matter of fact, don't even look at each other." Finished she opened the door and stepped out, hoping that her ingenious idea of parking farther to the right of the main door hid the jalopy that she had parked into the grand driveway. She could almost feel the house sneering at the old caretakers' truck. As if sensing the scrutiny it was under, the old trucks front fender dropped a little more from the frame.

Normally she wouldn't care about appearances but the sheer majesty of this house demanded nothing but the finest and right now she was feeling anything but fine. Looking around taking in her surroundings she smoothed her hand down the gray dress. The rough feel of the fabric forced her to look down. Who was she kidding she thought. Whatever this fabric was couldn't even get a wrinkle in it. As a matter of fact a wrinkle would be too afraid of this fabric. She herself had concluded after she had changed into this dress that whoever had made the fabric had an odd sense of humor. She glared again at her children who were watching her now and she smiled at them. They were devils but she loved them to pieces. It wasn't their fault that she had taken so long loading the small pickup with their few belongs for the move. Nor was it their fault that their boredom had overtaken them and they released that boredom by playing in the fountain at the Abbey while they waited for their mother to say her goodbyes. She laughed to herself now as she thought back and remembered their startled faces as she came up behind them and went to scold them. Her son had turned around too quickly had lost his balance and caught himself by grabbing the first thing he could find. Which in this case had been his mother's left breast, leaving behind a perfect muddy handprint on her white cotton summer blouse right over her bosom. To keep her mother from falling over her daughter had tried to catch her and had put a matching handprint over her mother's right breast. With all of her clothes packed away for the move she had no other alternative but to change into something from the poor box. This gray dress was all that was left.

Maria tapped the door of the truck, "I was only kidding you can get out if the trucks on fire," the kids laughed, "but ONLY if it's on fire." They rolled their eyes at her and went back to their cat's cradle game. She calculated in her head as she rang the doorbell how long she had, to get the key from her new landlord, before the game turned into an all-out brawl between her children.

"Knock it off Liam," she heard her daughter yell. About two minutes she figured. Thankfully the door was answered by an older gentleman. He scanned her length silently taking in her appearance and gave a slight eye roll. Right off the bat she confirmed what she had already suspected about this Captain von Trapp. She didn't like him one bit. Biting back her sarcasm she gave him her biggest smile.

"Hello, Captain I'm here," she stopped midsentence as the gentleman's hand came up to silence her.

"I'm the butler Frualein. Please come in." He stepped aside to allow her entrance into the house.

"Wait here please." The gentleman turned and left her at the bottom of the stairs in the grandest entryway she had seen since coming to Austria. The foyer was quite magnificent with its lovely gold plated mirrors and elegant armchairs. The floral arrangements threw in a beautiful scent and touch of class. For a moment she was reminded of her Grandmother's house back home. She had also been very Austrian.

Maria walked further into the foyer and couldn't help but to peak into the first door on her right. The door was cracked open a bit and a slight gleam reflected from the walls. She stuck her head further into the grand room. Never before had she seen a room covered in almost all gold, it was quite breathtaking. She wondered would it would look like in daylight. The room was so dark it mustn't have any windows she thought to herself. She was about to let herself into the room when someone cleared their throat rather loudly taking her by surprise. She twirled around too fast. Much like her son had done earlier in the day, and slammed into a gray clad wall of a man. She would have surely gone to the ground if the man hadn't grabbed her elbows to still her movement. It took her a moment to realize just what had happened and another moment to realize that she had her entire body flush against this stranger. Quickly she looked up into the stranger's expressionless face. Taking in the taught lips and the piercing gaze from his eyes, she realized two things. One he was kind of handsome and two he scared the crap out of her. This brought her to the conclusion that this must be the infamous Captain von Trapp.

"Hallo," she said awkwardly to break the silence. The captain stepped away from her and walked rather militantly to the doors she just had her head stuck in and closed them tightly. He turned on his heel doing an about face and gave her a look that could cut glass.

"You will kindly remember in the future Frualein that there are some rooms in this house that are not to be disturbed." His tone of voice didn't provoke her to correct him in his assumption that she was a Frualein when she was indeed a Frau.

"Yes Captain," boy this was going to be a fun summer she thought to herself. Why had she let her Aunt talk her into tutoring the von Trapp children and living in their cottage for the summer holiday? Then she remembered the two toe heads out in the hot truck waiting for her to begin their "summer of adventure" as they had taken to calling it. Even if this man made her want to pee in her pants she wouldn't let the two of them down.

Much like the gentleman who had answered the door the Captain scrutinized her wardrobe. Thanks again children she thought.

"Captain," she started then quickly stopped as he had held up his hand to silence her.

"Turn around please." He commanded and twirled his finger around in a circle like she didn't know what he meant. She gave him the "you're insane" look but yet couldn't stop her feet from doing exactly what his finger was telling her to do.

"It's the dress. You'll have to change before you meet the children."

"Well, of course Captain." Did this guy really think that she was going to wear the same dress for four days? Today was Friday and the first English lesson was Monday.

"Ah Frualein," he stopped, turning to her and snapping his fingers. About five more minutes of this guy and she was going to hurt him.

"Maria"

"Ah yes Frualein Maria, I don't know how much the Mother Abbess has told you."

"Not much," she stated before he started his circle march around her.

"You are the 12th governess in a long line of governesses," Governess? What was he talking about? Obviously he had her confused with someone else. She tried to interrupt him as he was going on with his speech, but again that silencing hand came up. And again she fought the urge to slap it down. He continued on with his speech, she was only half listening trying to figure out how to get him to listen to her. Her patience wore thin as she took in all the rules that he expected his children and this new governess to follow.

"Excuse me Captain!" She yelled over his banter. Boy if the first look was made to cut glass this look was definelty made to kill. "I'm sorry sir, but there has been some kind of mistake. I'm not here to be a governess to your children. I'm here to collect the key to the cottage…" Again the hand stopped her. She was beginning to wonder if that hand had some sort of special power in it. Everything it told her to do she did it.

"Excuse me", he sneered "I was told that the professor that I hired was a widower and that he and his children were going to be staying in the cottage. " Again he looked her up and down. Only this time there was a slight glimmer in his eye. "You don't look like much of a child to me."

Oh Captain you arrogant, arrogant man. "That's because I'm the professor." Wait for it Maria, she thought as she let him process this information. She tried to hide her smirk as she watched his head snap to attention but couldn't hold her laugh as she saw the utter look of confusion wash over him. "Obviously I'm a widow, not a widower and my children are waiting for me outside in your driveway."

"How old are you?"

"Excuse me?" Her patience was really running thin with him at this point. There was rude and then there was rude and this man was beginning to cross the boundary with her. It wasn't as if she wasn't used to people marveling at her age and all that she had achieved at such a young age. She had simply grown tired of having to explain herself to everyone that she met. Sometimes she thought that it might just be easier to carry a note card with the story of her life thus far written down so that she wouldn't have to go into it every time she met someone new. Most people were quite impressed with her once they found out that she had graduated her first university when she was fifteen and then went on to Juilliard and earned a doctorate in music theory all while being a young wife and mother to a set of twins no less. However, she didn't believe that to be the case with the good Captain here.

"It's just that I was told that the professor that I hired held a doctorate degree in Language," this time it was her that held up the silencing hand.

"No sir, that is wrong. I hold my doctorate in music theory and my master's degree in Language arts. I'm not really sure how the confusion was started or whom you spoke to at the school, however I can assure you that I am fully qualified to tutor your children in English. Especially since it is my native tongue and I speak fluent German as you can tell. Plus I have been working with Freidrich and Liesl at the upper school this past semester."

"If it is your native tongue why don't I detect an English accent?" Maria had heard about this Captain since she had moved to Austria to be closer to her Aunt. She had had four of his children in the grade school as pupils starting with Louisa. She knew his children well and loved each and every one of them, having comforted Brigitta, Louisa and Kurt when they had lost their mother three years earlier. However well she knew his children, nothing had prepared her for the cold hard man that was in front of her.

"Although I was born and raised in America, both of my parents were from Austria. I can switch my accents according to what language I am speaking at that time." She spoke this all in English with a full on New York accent.

The Captain nodded his head at her and she saw the impression in his eyes. The same eyes she recognized from several of his children. He was about to say something when he was interrupted by a delighted squeal.

"Frualein Maria!" She heard Brigitta before she saw her coming through a door to their right running at her to the displeasure of her father. Maria beamed at the girl and opened her arms inviting her into a hug.

"Fraulein Maria, I'm so happy to see you." Smiling down at the girl she placed a kiss on her forehead. Brigitta would always hold a most special place in her heart. She had held the child while she had wept tears for her lost mother years ago and remained to this day the child's confidant. Plus she was her daughter's best friend.

"Is Lynn here?" Maria rolled her eyes at Brigitta. She had wondered how long it would take her to inquire after her. During the school session Lynn and Brigitta were inseparable.

"She's out in the car with Liam. Probably has him in a head lock as we speak." She looked over at the confused Captain. "Lynn is my daughter. She and Brigitta are best friends." Just then Kurt came from a room on the upper level and was trotting down the stairs.

"Fraulein Maria! What are you doing here?"

"Well hello to you too Kurt." She laughed at the exuberant boy.

"Oh I mean, hello Frualein Maria, how are you?"

"I'm fine Kurt, thank you for asking."

"Liam and Lynn are out in the driveway Kurt." An excited Brigitta informed Kurt.

"Really? Father, may we go outside to see them?" Kurt asked his father who had been standing as if in shadow watching the interaction between the tutor and his children.

"For a moment while I get, _Frau Maria, _the key to the cottage."

"Frau?" Both of the children looked confused at their father's sudden change to Maria's prefix.

"The grade school children find it easier to say my first name, sir. They all call me Fraulein Maria so it really has simply become a nickname. It's fine really."

"Are you staying at the cottage Fraulein?" Kurt asked. "Are you the English tutor we are going to have this summer?"

"Yes Kurt." Both of the children jumped up for joy at this news.

"I can't believe Lynn didn't tell me." Said Brigitta, "She had said she had a surprise for me this summer, I can't believe she kept this secret."

The children ran up the foyer stairs to go out the front door. Kurt turned around and looked at Maria one last time before he went out.

"Fraulein, where in the world did you get that dress?"

"I was wondering the same thing Kurt," said Brigitta, "but at least I wasn't rude enough to ask."

Maria sighed, "Just ask Liam and Lynn they will tell you." The children made their exit. After a brief moment she heard the truck door slam. It must be on fire she cheekily thought to herself. Turning to the Captain she caught him in a stare as her eyes met his. For a moment she was startled by her own reaction when her heart skipped a beat causing her to look down with a knowing blush. What was that about she thought? He isn't that scary that he could stop her heart from beating. No he isn't, the side of her conscious that had been silent since the death of her husband some 8 years earlier piped in. No you fool he isn't that scary, it said to her, but he is that handsome.

Forcing herself to meet his eyes again and finding her lost confidence she asked, "So Captain do I pass inspection?" The captain taken off guard by her question raised his eyebrows at her cocking his head with a small smirk on his face. Realizing what she had just asked him had a double meaning she quickly corrected, "Uhh what I mean is, do you think I'm qualified enough to tutor your children this summer?"

The Captain stood for a moment with his arms across his chest. Leaning back on his heels his eyes scanned her up and down again, though this time he did it slowly letting her know full well what he was doing. Without realizing it her breathing quickened and her heart did a little flicker. When his eyes finally met hers, her breath caught in her throat.

"I think you'll do" was his reply.

_I own nothing. Just having some fun. Read and Review, please, this is my first fic. but you don't have to hold anything back if you see something I can improve on please let me know._


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"Mommy, look there's a piano!" Maria turned in the direction of her daughter's scurried footsteps. Sure enough her daughter was right. Up against the wall of the tiny cottages parlor stood an old upright piano, and it looked to be in perfect condition. "Now I don't have to wait until we visit Aunt Adelaide back at the Abbey to practice."

"That is wonderful Lynn." Though Maria was thrilled for her daughter she secretly cursed the presence of the piano. Then she laughed at herself and shook her head.

"_William," _she thought to herself_, "Your children are too funny. Everything we fought against when we were young, they revel in. Here, I try to get them to do everything that we were denied as children and all they want to do is study and practice. But I am trying darling, I really really am. _She stopped her silent conversation as she listened to her daughter's first notes on the piano. Watching her daughter from behind, she smiled at the familiar posture of the girl. The way she sat with her back arched just so, and the way her head tilted slightly to the right and then the left as she played her favorite piece of music, it was the same way her father would play. _"Oh Billy, she is so much your daughter it hurts sometimes."_

"Mom why does she get to play and I have to bring in all this stuff!" Liam yelled as he came into the parlor carrying the last light box from the truck. Hearing her brothers whining voice Lynn stopped playing; turning on the piano stool she shot her brother a glare.

"I was just seeing how it sounded. I am too helping!"

"No you're not. You haven't done anything! You only carried in the two suitcases. I carried in the rest of the boxes. That's not fair."

"Yeah, I got the two heavy suitcases and you get all the light boxes. That's not fair either. Just because you…"

"Hey," Maria cut her daughter off before she could say something that she would regret later. "You've both helped tremendously." She tilted her head at the two of them and raised her eyebrows so that they would know this argument was now over. Some days she felt like nothing more than a referee between these two.

Maria remembered back to the day they were born and how excited she and William were that they had just had twins. Assuming that this was to be his only child, William had spent the entire pregnancy going back and forth between wanting a girl, then a boy. He had prayed for one then the other so many times, he had told her one night, that God must have decided to just give him both.

Maria remembered how she had woke up in the hospital room after the anesthesia had worn off, to see her husband holding not one but two babies in his arms. She recalled how groggy she had been and how in her state of confusion had said to Bill, "Where did the other baby come from?" He had laughed at her. "Seriously Bill, which one is ours?"

"They're both ours darling. God is generous."

"Yes_ Bill", she thought to herself, "God is indeed generous but he also has a sick sense of humor. For all your children do is fight!"_

"All right you two, you've done enough for now. How about you go out and take a walk by the lake." Realizing she was setting herself up for disaster she threw in, "Walk by the lake! Don't shove each other into the lake."

"Yes Mother." The two of them set out the front door together, shoulders hunched in defeat.

"Lynn," Maria stopped her daughter once Liam was out of earshot. "Watch him please; make sure there's nothing in his walk way that he can trip on." Lynn sighed and rolled her eyes at Maria.

"Mother why do I have to always watch him, he never looks out for me?"

"Lynn..."

"I know, I know! But for the grace of God." Lynn quoted her mother's favorite phrase when it came to the age old argument.

"And he does look out for you and he loves you very much whether you know it or not. And I know that you love him very much. It is his burden to bear, but we don't have to…"

"Let him bear it alone, I know, Mother." Her daughter said on a sigh and exited the cottage. Man o man, Maria thought, the girl is a month away from her tenth birthday and she already has the attitude of a teenager. Judging from her daughter's tone of voice Maria figured the fun years were only just beginning.

She watched the children from the doorway of the little cottage make their way to the shore of the lake. They were walking side by side and she couldn't help but notice, again, the height difference between the two. Lynn must have grown another foot this past semester, for she now towered over her brother by at least a foot and a half. Maria called them the miss match twins for they looked about three years apart with Liam's head barely coming to Lynn's shoulder. This made her worries come to the forefront of her mind. Why isn't the boy growing? Why doesn't he gain any weight? _Stop it, Maria! _She admonished herself. _The doctor said it is from his condition. He is healthy and fine. It takes him twice the amount of energy it does everyone else just to walk that is why he is so thin. The boy will grow when he is ready. _

Maria repeated the doctor's words to herself, but they still didn't make her feel any better. Though watching Lynn slow her footsteps to match her brother's slow pace made her smile. Then she laughed out loud as she watched Liam get annoyed at the attention his sister was giving him because of his disability causing him to run ahead of her. "Last one there smells like Sister Mary Margaret." He yelled back to Lynn. His little crooked leg going as fast as it would let him. _Yes Maria, _the_ boy is fine, _she said to herself.

She returned her attention to unpacking their belongings. She looked around the small cottage and again couldn't help but feel the same warm feeling she had felt when they first walked in. It was a quaint little house with a cozy kitchen and eating area in the front that held a huge fireplace at the back wall. There was also a spiral staircase that led to the loft bedroom and full bath upstairs. There was an inviting parlor off the kitchen where the piano sat on one wall and the other held a large picture window that looked out upon the wood. Off of the parlor was a large bedroom that held a full size bed and had a full adjoining bath.

The only problem Maria had with the house was the fact that the upstairs bedroom had the two twin beds and the downstairs bedroom had the full size bed. There was no way that she was going to let her son go up and down the spiral staircase. If he fell on those stairs he would surely crack his head open on the slate floor of the kitchen. He had a hard time on a normal stair case, let alone a tricky one like this.

Either she was going to have to ask the Captain to change the furniture around or have the children share the downstairs bed. She weighed the options in her head. Listen to her children fight for the next two and a half months or ask the Captain for a favor. It only took a moment for her to come to her conclusion. Fighting she could deal with, that man she couldn't.

After he had blatantly checked her out, he had preceded to go over everything he expected his children to accomplish this summer. His list of demands had been endless but not as endless as his list of rules of his house. She tried to remember now exactly how he had expressed his last demand.

"_Furthermore Fraulein, although I am offering you the use of the cottage for the summer and expect you to treat it as your home, you are still a guest here. And as a guest I expect you to show nothing but the upmost decency and decorum…"_ at this point he had stopped his speech and looked her square in the eye, "_which would include not entertaining any male friends on the property." _

Was this man insane! What male friends? For goodness sake, since moving to Austria almost 8 years earlier she and the children had rented the guest house at Nonnberg Abbey. There weren't a whole lot of men to meet there. And although she was certainly fond of the old caretaker, Maria was pretty sure that man couldn't entertain himself let alone a woman. The man was eighty if he was a day. When she wasn't at the abbey, she was at the school teaching kindergarteners and first graders. After which she went home to her own children. Even if she wanted to and she definitely didn't want to, she didn't have the time or energy to "entertain" a man.

Especially since all of the men she had met since coming to Austria assumed the same thing about her. Once they found out how old Maria was they usually figured out that she was obviously a teenager when she had borne her children. They ran with the idea that she and her husband had only married as a consequence of their inappropriate behavior. A behavior that all of the men hoped Maria wouldn't mind sharing with them.

Little did they know how young Maria really was when she and Bill had married, and yes there was an unfortunate reason for their youthful union. Though the reason had nothing to do with the children for they came almost three years after she and Bill had been married.

No, their circumstances had been painfully different than what most people assumed, but she didn't care what people thought of her. She and Bill and what was left of their family knew the truth and that is all that mattered.

Still fuming over the Captains words Maria scurried about the cottage putting things away. What was it about that man that could get under her skin so easily? That he was arrogant, rude, and self-righteous. Yes, he was all of that and more, she thought, but there was something else behind it. Something she couldn't quite put her finger on. Something that made her want to give him a taste of his own medicine. She smiled at the memory of his reaction to her reply to his last demand. She had fought off the urge to tell him exactly what she thought of him, and instead simply said, "I'll have to clear my agenda, but I'll do my best, sir."

The surprised look on his face at her sarcasm was priceless. Maria had fought the urge to hold her hand up to her mouth as if it were a smoking pistol. Instead she had narrowed her eyes at him and gave him back the same smug grin he had used on her moments earlier. "Good day sir, I will see you on Monday."

_I own nothing, still just having some fun. Read and Review. _


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Maria had just walked out of cottage to grab the last remaining box out of the truck when she saw the saddest sight approaching her own children by the lake. It was the von Trapp children walking like ducks in a row in matching sailor style suits over the footbridge that connected the main property of the von Trapp estate to the cottage side of the property. Liesl was in the lead with the rest of the children walking behind her. They all had their heads hung low with matching somber expressions on their faces.

Her heart went out to them. After having met their father she could only fathom where their gloom had come from. She walked over by Liam and Lynn to greet their first guests.

"Come on now; don't look so happy to see us!" She yelled over to their visitors. Her words broke the line out of their trance. Seven heads snapped to attention, six of which she recognized, the littlest blond one was new to her. Then she saw six beaming smiles and the disciplined order was forgotten as they all came rushing over the bridge onto the bank of the cottage property.

Little Marta out ran her brothers and sisters and came to Maria for a hug.

"Fraulein Maria, I've missed you so much, it's been forever since I saw you!" The little brunette exclaimed, burying her head into the waist of Maria's skirt.

"Darling, school only ended two days ago." Maria thought back to two years previous when Marta had first started school. It had taken her three months to get the girl to say a word in class. She had been so shy and unsure of herself, afraid of making any kind of mistake, she would almost shake in her seat when Maria would come and look over the child's head to see her work. She had been a hard shell to open, but once she allowed Maria in, she saw what a beautiful pearl the girl really was.

The rest of the children had gathered around them in a circle. There was a gaggle of greetings from everyone. Then the little one, feeling rather left out at this point, stamped her foot to gain everyone's attention.

"Ahh, yes" Maria said in acknowledgement to her, "You must be Gretl," the little one beamed at her for the recognition, and you are," she hesitated here and the little girl held up five fingers, "five years old. My, you're practically a lady." She was awarded a most endearing smile from the little blonde and Maria inwardly smiled to herself. Little Gretl's shell wasn't nearly as hard as her sister's had been.

"I'm going to be seven on Tuesday." Marta brought the attention back to herself. "And, I would like a pink parasol."

"Oh well, pink is my favorite color, too." Maria reached down and gingerly stroked the girls' forehead. She remembered her own seventh birthday, she had wanted the little baby doll and pram that she had seen in the Sears catalog. She remembered pleading with her father for weeks for it. He had simply said, "We'll see, we'll see." Finally her birthday had come, Wilomena, the cook they had from Italy, had decorated the main dining room for her. Her parents had gone out that night and had left her presents to be opened after she had had her dinner. Wilomena had cooked Maria's favorite dinner that night and had even sat and ate at the table with her so that she wouldn't have to eat alone.

Then she brought out the two presents that her parents had left for her. They were beautifully wrapped in gold foil paper with red ribbons. Maria had torn into them with lust, only to find out that they were a chemistry set and a microscope. Duped again! She had let one single tear spill from her eye, when she felt a pat on her hand, and then Wilomena slid a simply wrapped brown paper package tied with string across the table to her. In it was a rag doll with red yarn hair and miss matched buttons on her dress made of scrap material. It was the best present Maria had ever received.

"A Snake!" Lynn's startled exclamation brought Maria's attention to the older seven's conversation.

"A snake? Where?" Maria hated snakes and she jumped back about five feet. The nine children laughed hysterically at her theatrics.

"Not here Mother." Liam said through his laughter. "They put a snake in their new governess's carpet bag."

"What! Why?" Maria questioned the children.

"We always play tricks on the governesses." Louisa simply stated to Maria.

"That would explain why you are on number twelve then." The von Trapp children shrugged their shoulders and put their heads down. These were not the children she knew from school she thought. The ones she knew from school were polite, well mannered, funny and sweet. Not evil.

"What did the new governess do when she discovered your little gift?"

"We didn't get to see her reaction", Kurt said.

"Frau Schmidt came and told us that we had to go out for our daily walk." This came from Friedrich.

"Yeah, Fathers orders," mimicked Brigitta.

"Right," Maria remembered the list of the Captains orders his children were to follow, "and umm…are you remembering to breathe deeply?" They all shared a laugh at the expense of the Captain. Kurt then started to breathe heavily and then fell to the ground in a fake faint. The rest of the children followed his lead and did the same, except Liesl.

"If you all soil your uniforms, Father is going to be angry with me. Please get up!"

"Father is going to be angry at us whether or not we get a little dirty, so what difference does it make?" questioned Friedrich who was still lying on the ground.

"Yes, I know", replied Liesl, "he'll be angry with all of us, but he won't pull the rest of you aside and tell you how _irresponsible_ you are. Or tell you that _you are the oldest and should set an example." _

Listening to their older sister, the rest of the children had gotten up from the ground, when Maria noticed a glass jar rolling down the slight slope of the bank. Louisa took flight after it, before it went into the lake. Successfully retrieving it before it's impending doom, she brought the jar up into the small yard of the cottage and put it on the little outdoor table next to the box Maria had sat down.

"Wow, that was close," Louisa said, "it took me days to get this many. It would have been a shame if it was all for nothing." Maria looked closely at the jar and was shocked to realize that it was full of spiders. There had to be forty to fifty spiders in there.

"Why do you have a jar of spiders, Louisa?" Maria hated spiders about as much as she hated snakes. Just being this close to so many of them, even though they were safely enclosed in a glass jar, made her skin crawl.

The girl looked guilty for a moment and replied, "Oh you know, a jar of spiders can come in handy sometimes."

"For what?" The girl simply looked at Maria; there was a glimmer in her eye that made her feel very bad for this new governess. "You're starting to frighten me a little Louisa."

"Fraulein Maria," she turned her attention to Brigitta who was standing next to the box that Maria had sat down, "what is in that box?"

"Those are films that our father made." Lynn informed her.

"I thought your father was a pianist. I didn't know that he made movies."

"He was a pianist, a great one, right Mother?" Maria nodded her head at her daughter. "These aren't movies that you would go see at the nickelodeon. They are just movies of him at home with us and Mother when we were babies. He just talks to us, and tells us stories about him and Mother. Every year on our birthday we get to watch a new one. Last year's movie was really funny, Father had a friend come and help him with the camera so that he could play tricks on Mother while making the reel. He showed us all of the pranks that he used to play on her when they were children growing up."

"That sounds brilliant," said Kurt, "I would love to see that."

"It was funny until Liam thought it was a good idea to play the same pranks on me."

"You want to see one?" Liam asked.

"NO, THEY DON'T," Lynn yelled back at him.

"You are so lucky to have these memories of your father," said Brigitta, "Father doesn't even let us see any photographs of our mother."

Friedrich ran his hand over the film reels in the box, "He put all of her pictures up in the attic."

"I don't even remember what she looked like." At Marta's confession Maria's heart broke.

"I don't remember her at all." Then it shattered at Gretl's statement. How could he be so cruel to his children? Maria knew first-hand how horrible grief could be. Even though it had been nearly eight years since her husband's death, her grief still lay heavy in her heart. Every year when she had to play a film for the children on their birthday, she would cry herself to sleep after seeing him on the screen. Of course it hurt to remember, but she would never stop her children from knowing their father by locking his memories away. These films had been his legacy to his children. Through them and Maria her children would know the man their father was.

"Maybe when we go to Grandfather's house you all could come with us and watch this year's film," suggested Liam to the solemn crowd.

"Oh yes Mother, wouldn't that be great," chimed in an excited Lynn. "Grandfather comes from America every summer to visit. We spend the week of our birthday at his home in Vols. It would be wonderful if you could all spend it with us!" Lynn shot a worried look at Maria thinking that she may have said too much. Maria felt some guilt at her daughter's uneasiness. She hated that she made her children keep their grandfather's true identity a secret, even going as far as changing all of their last names to her mother's maiden name before they had moved to Austria. Her own maiden name was just as well known in Austria as her in laws. Though she hated the lie, it was a necessity that enabled them to live the life Maria wanted for them. Her children were not going to lead the sheltered lives that she and Bill had to live during their childhood. In any case, she doubted that the name Vilhelm von Helstin meant anything to the von Trapp children. The Captain, on the other hand, would know precisely who her father in law is.

Before Maria could respond to the situation, they all heard a sharp whistle from across the lake. The seven von Trapp children snapped to attention and formed a straight line in order from tallest to shortest. Their heads pointed in the direction the whistle had come from. They looked like hunting dogs responding to the fox hunt horn.

"Umm…, what are you doing?" She asked baffled by their strange behavior.

"That's fathers signal for all of us. We have to go back home now." Liesl stated in a worrisome tone. "I think we're late from returning from our walk. He'll be boiling mad if we're late for dinner because of it." Maria looked over the lake in the direction of the main house. On the back patio she could see the Captain standing straight and tall. Even from a distance the man looked hard and opposing. Squinting, she saw his arm move to his face and then the air brought the shrill sound from the whistle again.

Turning back to where the children had lined up, she did a double take, for the spot was now empty. She looked over at her own children who wore the same confused expression that Maria knew was on her face. They pointed in the direction their friends had run off to, turning, she heard them before she saw them, going over the footbridge back to their own house.

It was free for all, every man for himself, winner take all foot race between the siblings. She even saw Friedrich push Gretl to the ground to gain position. The little girl got back up from her knees threw her hands down in frustration then continued on. Once they had reached their father the children lined up again, after listening to whatever it was he told them, they walked single file into the back door of the house.

"Man, I gotta get me one of those magic whistles," Maria told Lynn and Liam. "Maybe if I had one of those, I wouldn't have to call you two for an hour every Sunday to get up and get ready for mass. I could just blow the whistle and you both will obediently jump out of bed."

"Mother," piped up Liam, "do you really think you'd find the whistle if you had one?"

"Yeah," chimed in Lynn, "only if she could swim to the bottom of the lake." This sent them into a shared chuckle.

"Come on you monkey's, let's go make dinner."

"Mother," Lynn stopped her at the door, "I'm sorry for what I said, I wasn't thinking. I…," Maria put her hand on her daughters shoulder.

"Lynn, there's no worries. It's only a matter of time before people find out who we are anyway. We can't hide forever." Especially since you and your brother are the sole heirs to a shipping empire that you don't even know exists yet.

"But why do we hide it Mother? Is Grandfather a bad person?" It depends on who you ask, Maria wanted to say.

"Of course not, darling. You know your Grandfather very well, does he seem like a bad person to you?"

"No, I just don't understand why." No you don't, Maria thought, and I hope you never do.

_Authors note: For my own purposes I'm changing history around to suit my story a little. Movie cameras with sound would have been invented in the time frame of my story, but probably very hard to come by The first "talkie" film having been released in 1927 Maria's husband would have had to use one of the original cameras to make his home movies, which in our time line would have been around 1930 since the story is taking place in the summer of 1938. Which I probably should have told you all but I now realize I failed to so, sorry. Also, instead of the Anschluss taking place March of 1937, we're pushing it forward just as the movie did to fall of 1938. Or at least I think that's how they had it in the movie, now I'm totally confused. _

_I hope you all like the story so far, and don't worry there will be plenty of Maria and Georg eventually, but I have to set the story first, so just bear with me. Eventually I will be changing the rating to mature, but I'm not going to do that until I get to the "mature" parts of the story. Read and Review please!_


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Surprisingly, to Maria, the children hadn't whined that they had to share a bed for the next few months. She had thought, briefly, that an angel had come down from heaven and blessed them with understanding and maturity. Until they got into a shoving and screaming match over who was going to get to sleep on the wall side of the bed. Ultimately the coveted spot was won by Lynn with a coin toss, who then quickly gave up her prize to her brother. Who then accused her of wanting the better spot, which was now his by default, which then prompted a whole new argument.

They finally arbitrated a truce after Maria threatened them with having to sleep on the floor. Now she was outside in her nightshirt searching the small beach of the lake where Liam had left his binoculars. After the exhausting move today, they had all agreed to turn in early. She had just changed and let her long hair down, when Liam remembered that he had left them outside earlier and was fearful that the night moisture would ruin the lenses.

She had run out of the house without grabbing her dressing coat which was all the way upstairs along with her slippers. After searching the sandiest part of the beach next to the footbridge, she made her way up the slope near the trees and bushes. The early dark of night made her efforts to find the black object difficult, making her bend over in her search, thus causing the tails of her nightshirt to rise above her waist exposing her panty clad backside.

Sensing that something was behind her she quickly turned around to see if it was a bear, fox, or something else just as dangerous that might want to eat her, when she slammed her pinky toe against that which she sought after. Grabbing her foot in her hand she jumped up and down through the pain.

"Here I thought only Pagans danced in circles in the moonlight." The words of her unknown spectator sent Maria into full blown panic mode. Screaming towards the shadow coming over the footbridge she lost her balance sending the upper half of her body into a bush and her bare legs sprawled out in front of her in the sand.

She closed her eyes and prayed, _Lord, please don't let it be the Captain. Lord if you are holy and just let this be anyone but the Captain. _Opening her eyes, she saw the Captain standing over her, offering his hand to help her up. _Lord! What have I ever done to you?_

"Are you alright Fraulein?" He asked once she was on her feet.

"No," she was annoyed, pissed, embarrassed, she had sand in her panties, and something was poking her through her shirt, "you scared me half to death. Why didn't you let me know you were there?"

"I was simply entranced by the beauty of the night and uh…the view." Licking his lips he scanned down her body and let his eyes rest at the top of her thighs. Her stomach quivered as his eyes caressed down her bare legs, while her mind reeled at the knowledge that she had just mooned her boss. Realizing what he was doing he snapped his eyes back to hers. "Your wardrobe intrigues me Fraulein. Today you wore the dowdiest dress ever known to man, and tonight you have on…" he looked at her choice of nightwear trying to figure out what it was that she had on, "is that a man's dress shirt?"

"Yes, Captain." He glanced over at the cottage and then back to her.

"Would you care to explain?"

"Explain what?"

"What you are doing in a man's shirt." She could bait him, she thought. Let him think the worst and then hang him with his own assumptions. However, she was tired and he was thick headed. She didn't have all night to toy with him. Plus whatever was poking her through her shirt was starting to cause a rash, so she took pity on him.

"I don't like dressing gowns. When you sleep in long dressing gowns and roll over in your sleep they wrap around your neck and choke you. So I choose to sleep in men's dress shirts, they are much more comfortable, especially on humid nights." She wanted to add moron to the end of that but felt it was in her better interest not to.

"Let me get this straight, you buy men's shirts that are made to be worn for men, solely for the purpose to sleep in them?" Thick headed wasn't a strong enough description.

"Yes, what's wrong with that?" So much for trying to be nice, she could tell that he wasn't going to let this go. He was the type of person that saw things in a singular fashion instead of multiple possibilities.

"They're made for men to wear to formal occasions, not for woman to prance around the moonlight in."

"First of all, I wasn't prancing. Second of all, there isn't a written rule that says I can't wear them if I choose to. Nobody sees me in them anyway, so what is the difference?"

"I'm seeing you in it right now!" He exclaimed stepping closer to her as the argument got more heated.

"Well you wouldn't be if you weren't sneaking around outside of my home in the dark." She threw back at him lifting her head up in defiance.

"Sneaking around?" He sneered at her, closing the distance between them so that they were now standing toe to toe. He leaned his height over her making her arch her back to keep some distance between them. She wasn't sure if her rapid heartbeat was from the heat of the words or from the heat she felt coming from his body. "I will remind you Fraulein that this is my property and as the Master of this estate I will go where I choose to go on it, when I choose to. Everything here," his eyes pierced hers, "is mine."

She was trying to figure out if there was a hidden meaning behind his statement, when he reached his arm up towards her. His sudden movements made her flinch away from him. She wasn't sure if he was going to hit her or kiss her. Either way, she didn't want to find out. To her dismay, he did neither of those. "I'm not going to hit you Fraulein," he said as he picked something off of her shoulder taking a step back, the tension from a moment ago easing a little, "you have a burr on you. As a matter of fact," he said pushing her shoulder forward so he could look at her backside, "you're covered in them. You must have picked them up when you fell into the bush." He picked off another two then sucked his breath in.

"What? What's the matter?" His eyes had gone wide betraying his normal cool, calm and collected exterior. Now she was really nervous.

"Nothing, nothing," his words weren't quite convincing, "you're probably better off changing when you go back in, which I suggest you do post haste, before someone else see's you in this state of undress. "

"Who is going to see me? I don't get many visitors this time of night; as a matter of fact I prefer it that way." As if on cue, footsteps sounded on the bridge, they both turned to see who was coming. It was young Rolf Eck pushing his bicycle in his delivery uniform. Could this night get any worse Maria wondered to herself. He stopped short when he saw them standing on the beach. His eyes had locked in fear on the Captain and then swayed towards Maria where they ogled in awe. In a protective move the Captain pushed Maria behind him hiding her away from view.

"Yes?" The Captain questioned the boy sternly.

"I…ah…I," the tone of the Captain's voice had stalled the words in the poor boys mouth. Maria's heart went out to him for she knew exactly how he felt.

"Spit it out, boy, I haven't got all night." Maria poked the Captain in the back.

"Be nice," she whispered to his back.

"I have a telegram for Frau Rainer…ah...Sir. Your butler said she was over here in the cottage, so I ah…I brought it over here to ah...Deliver it. Sir."

"Give it here then." The Captain demanded. Maria growled at him for being so rude to the boy. Shaking in his shoes the boy handed the telegram to the Captain, who was still hiding Maria behind his back.

"Goodnight sir, ah goodnight Fraulein Maria."

"Rolf, hold on a minute," she stopped the boy as he went to leave what must have been one of the oddest scenes he had ever seen on his route. She poked the Captain in the back again and whispered, "Tip him."

"What?"

"Tip the boy." This time it was the Captain who growled. He reached into his coat pocket then handed the boy some coins.

"Thank you Captain," the boy tried to look behind the Captain to Maria, but the Captain followed his movements and continued to block her. "Ah…thank you Fraulein Maria. Goodnight again.

In unison they both answered, "Goodnight," though Maria's was warm and friendly, the Captains dripped with disdain.

Maria waited for the boy to be out of ear shot then whispered to the Captain, "He's just a boy Captain, why did you have to be so rude to him?"

"Thirty minutes."

"What?"

"Thirty minutes ago I saw his bike parked by the gazebo on my property. And what do you think he's been doing all that time, Fraulein?" Before Maria could answer him he continued on, "I'll tell you what, talking with my sixteen year old daughter, that's what. They think I'm a fool, those two, and that I don't know about their clandestine meetings." So he knew about Liesl and Rolf.

Maria had seen them together this past semester in the Upper School where she taught the older children English as an elective. She would see them in the hallway every day before class began. There had been a lot of hidden blushes and shy smiles shared between the two; it was all very sweet and innocent. Young love at its finest.

"Captain, there just kids enjoying their first crush, there's no harm in that." Apparently she had said something utterly wrong for his mood changed to danger in an instant.

"You of all people should know exactly what harm could come from it." He nodded his head toward the cottage presumably reminding Maria of her two sleeping children. Maria boiled over with fury. Many people assumed the worst when it came to her and Bill, but no one had ever gone so far as to throw the speculation into her face.

"And what precisely are you insinuating, Captain?" She would have throttled him if she didn't think he would rather enjoy it.

"Only that unlike your own wedding, I would prefer the absence of shotguns at my daughter's wedding." She let out a disgruntled yell, balled her hands into a fist to keep from hitting him and threw her face into his.

"Not that it's any of your business Captain, but I was married two months after my fifteenth birthday. My children were born one month before my eighteenth birthday and though I did have a twin pregnancy, THAT DOESN'T MEAN THAT YOU HAVE DOUBLE THE LENGTH OF GESTATION. So you do the math, if you can, in that little mind of yours and tell me if there were any shotguns at my wedding." She bent down and picked up the binoculars and stormed up the embankment.

"Excuse me Fraulein?" he called to her. She had meant for him to swallow his own assumptions instead he seemed rather amused by her outburst. This made her even angrier.

"What?" She stopped and turned to him. She was surprised that he had followed right behind. The smug grin was still plastered on his face that she would love to smack off.

"Your telegram," instead of handing her the slip of paper he placed it into the pocket of her nightshirt. If she wasn't so mad she might have fainted from the bold move. "In the future Fraulein you will remember that two of my rules are decency and decorum, and that outfit, although I did rather enjoy it, is made to wear indoors in privacy. Not out in the open for the whole town to see. I do have a reputation at stake here."

He turned and headed back to his own house, leaving Maria speechless and wondering what had just happened. Suddenly he stopped and turned his head slightly back to her.

"And not to worry Fraulein," he choked back a chuckle, "I hear that short hair is all the rage this year." What the hell was he talking about? The man was a riddle. She reached up and fingered her hair. Oh my God, she thought, and then ran straight into the cottage in search of scissors.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

It was mutiny. There was no other way to describe it. He was the Captain and his children were the rebellious crew. These were his only thoughts as he stood in his foyer watching the newest governess abandon ship. She had been yelling for five minutes about his children, something about snakes and spiders, but he hadn't heard most of what she had said. Instead he was changing the placements on his mental tally board of governesses. Fraulein Josephine was still in the lead having left in less than two hours. This one came in a close second, but he had already forgotten her name before her taxi reached the end of the driveway. Oh well, he thought, we'll just call her number twelve.

Why did his children have to be so problematic? It was as if they purposely tried to get under his skin and undermine his rules. Rules that they knew if broken held consequences for them. So why do it, he questioned, as he went through the children's wing opening doors and checking on them. Seven little heads were fast asleep, oblivious to the chaos they had caused in his home. He would have to take care of their punishments in the morning. Now if he could simply think of one that would have some sort of effect on them he might be able to get some sleep for himself.

Walking into his private quarters he didn't bother to turn on the light. Since Agathe's death he knew this space like he knew the back of his hand, restlessness was his new found roommate. He poured himself a generous glass of bourbon, taking a sip he rested his heavy frame on the window seat and stared into the emptiness of the night. The silver shadows of the moon bathed the land, reflecting off the gentle ripples of the lake, creating a hypnotic rhythm that soothed some of the turmoil that trembled through his veins.

When he was younger he had hated the loneliness of the night. The quiet humdrum of the halls of the boarding school were like a tomb, cold and dark with no one to turn to for comfort. Now, as an adult it was the same, only he didn't push it away, he reveled in his deep thoughts and wrapped them around himself like heavy armour to battle through the next day with.

Some nights though, he would remember the all too short period of time when he hadn't been lonely and lost, but loved and found. It was on these nights that he found it most difficult to settle his soul. Tonight was one of those nights, tonight he could use a distraction to take his mind away from his own dark and brooding thoughts. For a moment he thought of calling Elsa. It was only past ten, he knew he wouldn't be waking her if he called. Then he thought of how the conversation would go, it would be all society news and gossip, and that wasn't what he needed to hear right now.

Fidgeting with the brass spy scope that was mounted on the window seat he turned his gaze in the direction of the guest cottage. The light was still on upstairs and he couldn't help but chuckle at the frantically moving shadow he saw flashing behind the drawn sheer curtains. She was a mystery this new English tutor. He thought back to earlier in the evening when he had been on the beach with her. She had looked utterly enticing and he was still a little shocked at how his body had reacted so suddenly and strongly to her. Thank goodness for the early twilight and the length of his dress jacket, he could only imagine what the little spitfire would have done if she had seen the state her evening wear sent him to. Just the memory of which was causing a similar reaction right now.

She could definitely be the kind of distraction he was looking for. A little summer fling with the young Fraulein might be just what he needed to soothe his restless soul. It could to loosen him up, and help him sow some oats before he took the inevitable and expected last step with Elsa. He pondered the thought for a moment and then quickly pushed it to the back of his mind. Even if he wanted to there were too many obstacles that stood in his way. The most prominent challenge being the Fraulein herself, for being such a young bride and early widow, she didn't seem the type to enter into casual affairs. She had this air about her that he couldn't quite describe. She wore it around herself like a protective bubble: a mixture of innocence, chasteness, intelligence, topped off with a little pain. It would be a fight to conquer that one, though; he was never one to back down from a fight.

"It looks good Maria; Sister Margaretta did a wonderful job evening it all out." Maria knew when her Aunt was lying for she always crossed herself as she said the words. "Lucky for you she has some training in hair cutting," reluctantly she handed Maria the mirror. Maria gasped at the image reflecting back at her. Her hair, that just last night had reached the mid part of her back in long sandy blonde curls, now rested high above her neck. She looked like a little Dutch boy, only they had longer hair.

"Where did you train, at the school of Paige Boy?"

"Maria, you had it all chopped up," protested Sister Margaretta, "I had to cut it that much just to get the ends even. Plus there was one more burr that somehow you missed when you hacked up your hair last night."

"I told you I tried everything to get them out. The more I messed with them, the more they got imbedded. They seemed to multiply when I tried to comb them out. I had no choice but to cut it." Maria ran her hand through her hair. There was barely even a wave left to it. She would definitely save on shampoo now. Plus she wouldn't have to roll it each night before bed. Last night's nightmare just might be a blessing in disguise.

"But did you have to cut it in such a way?" asked Sister Margaretta, "I would compare it to a Leper's hair, but I've been to a colony and they looked much better than you did this morning." Sister Margaretta had been a nun for nearly ten years, she was devout in her faith and loyal to her order. The best part about her to Maria was that though she led a secular life, she hadn't lost her sense of self or humor. Since Maria's arrival at the abbey she had become her best friend and confidant and now her hairdresser.

"I still don't understand what happened, Maria." Her Aunt questioned her again about last night's events. She had been very vague with them when she had arrived this morning to drop off the caretaker's car and pick up her own. Somehow she doubted that her Aunt, the Reverend Mother of Nonnberg Abbey would find any humor in her story. Sister Margaretta, however, would be in stitches.

"I simply fell into a thicket and the burrs got into my hair. It was just an accident, a simple, yet costly accident." The two women shared a knowing look with each other that answered the rest of their unasked questions. Maria knew that it was the running joke of the abbey that she was as clumsy as they came, and though normally it annoyed her to no end, today she used it for her benefit.

Maria and Sister Margaretta set about cleaning up the remnants of Maria's hair from the floor of the Mother Abbess's office. When she picked up the last long curl that had survived last nights rampage Maria let out a little whimper. This was all the Captains doing, if he hadn't come and startled her she would still have hair. She would never forgive him for letting her stand there knowing the condition she was in. He had thought it all a joke and then, above and beyond that, he had the gall to insult her as well.

"Well it seems, Maria," began her Aunt, "that you had just about as good of a night as our dear Sister Heidelinde had at the von Trapp estate. Only you made it until morning, whereas she was back here by eleven last night."

"That is who you sent to be the governess for the children? What did she do? Eat them all by ten and came back here looking for dessert?" Sister Heidelinde was the meanest and nastiest nun that lived in the Abbey. She focused on one aspect of the secular life, discipline. Maria was sure that if that woman was to ever smile her face would crack from the effort. No, Sister Heidelinde was not who the von Trapp children needed in a governess, they got enough discipline from their father.

"Captain von Trapp was specific in the qualities that he was looking for in a governess. He wanted someone who could maintain discipline and conduct themselves with the utmost…"

"Decency and decorum," Maria finished for her Aunt rolling her eyes much like her daughter had done to her the day before.

"He's been having a rather hard time keeping a governess in employ; it seems his children are a little unruly."

"His children are wonderful," Maria protested, "they are well behaved and mannered, I have had all but one in my classes and met the littlest one just yesterday. They are nothing but a pleasure."

"Do well behaved children put snakes in ones luggage and douse ones bed sheets with spiders?" Maria cringed. So that is what Louisa had done with the spiders. She couldn't condone the behavior, but she could understand where the children were coming from. There had been a time as a child that she would have done anything to get her parents attention too. Her mother barely knew that Maria existed. The only time she paid any interest in her was to dress her up and show her off at formal dinner parties and then quickly forgot her presence once everyone had cooed over the latest dress she had bought for her daughter. Her father, who had never forgiven Maria for not being a boy and therefore leaving him with no sufficient successor to his half of the business, would surely have forgotten that he had procreated her, had it not been for the discovery that she was a gifted child. After which, Maria wished she could have erased herself from his memory.

"They are only looking for attention, Aunt Adelaine." Her Aunt's sympathetic eyes fell on her. Aunt Adelaine had always been good at reading Maria and knew exactly where her thoughts had wandered.

"Maria," she whispered so that Sister Margaretta couldn't over hear them as the three made their way down the stairs to join the twins in the Abbey garden, "not every childhood is like yours. The Captain seems like a very sincere father. Why, he called me first thing this morning quite upset about the antics his children played on poor Sister Heidelinde. He is at a complete loss as to what to do with them."

"No, he isn't as bad as my father, but I think he took a few lessons from him. The man runs his home as if he was on one of his ships and his children are the crew. They are afraid to even do the things children do for fear of his reaction. They don't play, they march and study. I've had at least one of his children in my classes since I began teaching here. Yesterday was the first I met the man. He has never attended a single school function or parent teacher conference. He's arrogant and self-centered…"

"Maria…" her Aunt interrupted her mid-diatribe as the threesome reached the bottom of the staircase entering the courtyard.

"With the manners of a…"

"Maria…" Her Aunt intoned again, this time with enough warning to grab Maria's attention. Stopping their forward motion, Maria waited for the lecture she was sure to receive from her aunt about being judgmental against people. Aunt Addie however, simply stood and looked Maria square in the eye, without a word spoken Maria completely understood her Aunts lesson.

"The man has suffered a great loss; you of all people should understand that."

"But I…" the words stalled in her mouth as her Aunt laid a gentle hand on Maria's shoulder.

"Everyone handles their grief differently. He will find his way back home in time," the wrinkled hand caressed Maria's cheek, "just as you will, my dear."

Taken aback by the old woman's comment, the walls that were normally down for her Aunt stood at attention, "I'm not lost," she replied tersely. Signifying the end of the conversation Maria resumed walking. She felt more than heard her Aunt's final thought on the subject.

"I guess it depends on who's looking." Letting that go was hard for Maria, but she had to end this before it became a conflict between them. Knowing that what she really needed to discuss with Aunt Addie was going to become a raging war eventually.

Choosing a shady secluded spot in the garden, Maria watched as her children and Sister Margaretta fused over the flower beds. It was a rare clear and shining Austrian day with the mountains glistening from the sunshine. The garden was perched high on a slope and offered amazing views above the Abbey walls. You could see all of Salzburg bustling with activity; Maria had fallen in love with this city and the Abbey. The thought of leaving it all behind her broke her heart.

Aunt Addie silently sat beside her on the garden bench. That was how it always had been between them. One pushed the other pulled but in the end there was an unspoken truce.

"I received a telegram last night." Maria broke the silence. Her Aunt stiffened from the news.

"And?"

"He's coming a month early. He plans on meeting with the Chancellor."

"My brother the hero," her words dripped with the disdain she felt for the man. The Reverend Mother of Nonnberg Abbey was forgiving of everyone, except her brother, Maria's father in law. "Vilhelm is a fool if he thinks he can stop this madness."

"He loves his county. He is only trying to help."

"Vilhelm loves many things, money, power, greed; he is only worried of what he will lose if the Anschluss happens."

"He is a changed man, Aunt Addie. I wish you could see that." Maria caressed her Aunts hands. Vilhelm and Adelaine had been at odds since Maria and Bill were children. Though Maria's father and Bill's father were partners in business they were rivals in every other aspect of life. They had been born rivals and heirs to their families shared business. They were the fourth generation to operate the shipping empire that their great- grandfathers had founded when Austria was still the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Their families held a monopoly on the Mediterranean ports before the third generation moved the base of operation to American ten years before the Great War. Now it held a monopoly on all waters as well as some continents.

Vilhelm von Helstin and Sigmund Kutschera were a force to be reckoned with when it came to their business, their partnership was sound and strong. When it came to their personal lives they were enemies to the bitter end. Their first rivalry was over Bill's mother, Vilhelm won that one. When Maria's father built an estate in Upstate New York, Vilhelm built one that was bigger, better, and on the adjacent property. Their greatest rivalry however, was over their children. If Bill could play the piano, Maria had to learn the violin. When Bill became a musical prodigy at the age of 7, Maria had to be classified as genius by the age of 5. Though they would laugh about it later on, Maria and Bill had spent the first part of their lives utterly despising the other. Their fathers had pushed them to the brink, and Adelaine had been the only one to stand up for them.

"Aunt Addie, we can't stay here if the Anschluss takes place, you know that." Adelaine turned her attention to the children. They were playing skipping rope with Sister Margaretta; Liam was in the middle while the other two twirled the rope for him. Try as he might, he couldn't get past the first round, his crooked right leg would catch the rope, stopping the motion. "We'll be leaving at the end of summer; I want you to come with us."

"Maria," she more sighed her name than said it, "I am where I belong. But I am glad to hear that you will finally be going home. It'll be good for the children," she turned and looked at Maria, "and good for you too. It's high time that you stop running away from ghosts." Maria had known it was going to be a fight to get her Aunt to leave with them, but she hadn't expected this argument.

"I didn't run away from anything. I came here to be with you, so that you could see Bill's children grow up. What is with you today, anyway?" Maria stood from the bench to walk away from the argument. Adelaine followed right behind her.

"I am sorry to be so forthright with you Maria, but since you are leaving, I only have three months left to accomplish what I couldn't do in eight years."

Maria turned to her Aunt with a glare, "and what is that?"

"Get you to let go." 

_I own nothing. Read and review! Hope you all are still enjoying it. Let me know where I can improve on anything._


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

It was half past two on Sunday afternoon when the von Trapp children showed up on Maria's doorstep. Truth be told it was far later than she had expected them. After Maria and her children finished their visit with her Aunt yesterday and did their errands around town, they had come home to seven sad faces moping about their yard. Once the children had gotten over their initial shock of Maria's new hairstyle and Liesl and Louisa's overzealous compliments, they told her how their day had gone.

The Captain had been none too happy with his children and for punishment he had them scrub the terrace of the house for hours. They were then to go for their walk, come home, and have sandwiches then go straight to bed. It was only four in the afternoon. Maria had felt so bad for them that she had invited them over for dinner on Sunday if their father would allow it. Liesl had explained to Maria that there was no need to ask their father since he had left right after he had barked his orders to the children and most likely wouldn't be home until Monday morning.

"He does that sometimes," Liesl shrugged, "which isn't so bad."

"Yeah," Kurt had piped in, "at least it's only a night or two, when he goes to Vienna we don't see him for weeks at a time."

"Do you think he'll be home for my birthday?" a worried Marta had asked.

Maria had been standing in between Liesl and Friedrich, when the later leaned over to his older sister, "Even if he is he won't remember." At that point Maria had been glad that she had picked up a few things for Marta earlier in the afternoon, one of which was a pink parasol.

Now all seven children plus her own two were crowded into Maria's tiny kitchen, so she sent them outside to set the picnic tables for dinner. When Maria had brought her car back from the Abbey yesterday afternoon, she had found the tables stuffed into the cottages garage. It was a lucky find and had taken Lynn, Liam and herself a great deal of energy to drag them out and onto the front lawn. There were two medium sized tables and four benches, which should provide plenty of room for all ten of them to eat outdoors.

Turning her attention back to the dinner at hand, Maria finished up the salad that would accompany the lasagna she had made for that night. She was so engrossed in her own thoughts that she didn't hear the chatter of the children grow suddenly quiet or the cottage chill by twenty degrees. If she had she might have sensed the danger lurking behind her, breathing down her neck.

"Your hair came out better than I thought it would", Maria turned with a start at the sound of his voice. She hadn't even heard him walk in, now the Captain was standing with in an inch from her, making her press her back against the counter. She looked around the cottage; the children had remained outside, the traitors.

"Stop doing that!" Maria exclaimed once she got her breathing under control.

"Doing what?" He asked in the most innocent of voices. He still hadn't moved away from her and there was a mischievous twinkle in his eye that was more than a little unsettling for Maria. The Captain reached up and touched the ends of her hair at the base of her neck, "This look is very becoming on you," he said as he lifted her hair and then let his hand graze down the length of her neck, stopping momentarily on her pulse. His smile became proud as he noted it's fast pace, and he lifted his eyebrows questioningly at her before replacing his hand back to his side, "I like it."

How did he keep doing that, Maria wondered to herself. If he had been any other man taking these liberties with her, she would have had them down on the floor by now and begging for mercy. Yet again she stood speechless, the words stolen by his bold behavior, and angry with her own body for its reaction to his touch. She was trying to come up with an effective comeback when she heard Liam from the doorway.

"Mother, do you need any help with dinner?" She wasn't sure how long her son had been there, but judging from the expression on his face, it was long enough. The boy had his steal blue eyes fixed on the Captain. The Captain finally put some distance between himself and Maria, looking like a child with his hand caught in the cookie jar.

"Well, hello there," the Captain said, "I don't believe we've met." Stepping closer to Liam who still had his eyes fixed on the Captain, the man extended his hand to the boy, "I'm Captain Georg von Trapp." Liam looked at the hand extended to him and then slowly moved his eyes back to the Captain. For a moment Maria thought that the boy was going to refuse the gesture.

"I'm Liam Rainer," Maria's son finally said and shook the hand offered to him. There was no mistaking the distain in the boys' voice and Maria found humor in watching the Captain squirm under her sons' scrutiny.

The big man and the little man stood in a silent battle for a few moments. Liam still had his eyes locked on the Captain and he in turn was trying to win the boy over with a charming smile. The boy wasn't having any of it, the Captain was surly loosing. Taking mercy on him, Maria brought the salad bowl over to Liam.

"Liam, could you do Mommy a favor and bring this out to the table? Have everybody help themselves to the salad while I serve up the lasagna."

Without taking his eyes off the Captain, Liam took the bowl in his hands. As he turned to go out the door he shot the Captain a menacing look.

"It was nice meeting you, Liam" the Captain offered.

"uhh-hhh", the boy retorted. Maria watched the Captain as he watched her son walk out the door. She found she did that with people when they first met Liam, to see their reaction to her son's disability. Most people would just unknowingly stare at him, some with a look of sympathy on their faces, others with a look of disgust. She wasn't sure which one made her angrier. She had the Captain pegged for the second of the two, however he surprised her. First she saw a look of confusion wash over him, and then a look of admiration as the boy managed the large bowl with his unbalanced gait.

"That's quite a boy you have there, Fraulein."

"Thank you, sir." Maria wasn't sure if his statement was meant to be a compliment, but decided to play along with him.

"Your other child is a daughter, yes?"

"Yes Captain."

The Captain walked over to the counter where Maria had the plates and silverware set out for the children. Helping himself to two dinner sets, he walked over to the small kitchen table and proceeded to set two places. Maria watched him in shocked silence as he sat himself at the head of her table.

"If I may make a suggestion, Fraulein, when your daughter has her first date, send your son along with her. With him around you'll have nothing to worry about."

"He's just being protective, Captain. His grandfather tells him that he is the man of the house. He takes it very seriously."

"So I see," the Captain said before he changed the subject. "So I came home today to an empty house and to find my cook reading a magazine instead of cooking my dinner. She informed me that you had invited the family over today. What a generous offer."

"I invited the children yesterday." Maria explained, "They would have asked your permission, however, you weren't home to give it." Maria didn't hide the cynicism in her voice.

"Well, I'm home now, and uhh, I thank you for the invitation." The Captain sat back in his chair, folding his hands in his lap waiting for Maria to serve him. Her invitation hadn't included him and he knew it, he was inviting himself. "If it tastes half as wonderful as it smells, we are all in for a treat. We don't normally have Italian at the house."

Scratching her head, Maria set about serving the children's plates. She called Liam and Lynn in to help her serve the von Trapp children. Lynn, of course, was first. Seeing the Captain at the head of the table her big blue eyes got even wider and she stopped mid stride to Maria's side. The girl looked like she had just walked into the lion's den. The Captain, ever the gentleman, stood for Lynn and bowed to her.

"How do you do," he asked in a most charming way. When the man wasn't being a complete bastard he really did have a way about him. Maria began to understand all of the rumors she had heard about him from around town these last few years.

Lynn blushed and did a little curtsy, "Fine, thank you," she said in the shakiest of voices. Maria introduced the two and then handed Lynn two plates to take out with her. Liam was right behind her and between the three of them they had all the children served with two trips back and forth.

Maria then served the Captain and herself. She had intended on eating with the children, but the Captain made it abundantly clear having set the kitchen table for them, that they were going to eat inside. She was pouring the Captain some lemonade when Liam showed up in the doorway.

"We're waiting for you, Mother, to begin."

"I thought your mother and I would eat in here," the Captain answered for her. Liam cocked his jaw to the side and glared at the Captain, "it looks a little crowded out there. I thought it would give you children some more room, if that's alright with you?"

Liam turned his eyes questioningly to Maria. She winked at the boy and gave him a nod, letting him know that it was okay with her.

On a heavy sigh he said, "I guess," then turned and went out the door. Maria took her seat and folded her hands in prayer. Having taken his first bite the Captain noticed Maria's posture and rolled his eyes at her and put his fork back down, mimicking the position of her hands. Obviously he wasn't accustomed to saying grace.

"For what we are about to receive may the Lord make us truly thankful, Amen."

"Amen," he mumbled and then began eating with gusto. "This is good," taking another bite he added, "Really good."

"Thank you Captain." They continued to eat in an awkward silence. Maria had never been on one, but the atmosphere was like what her fellow female teachers had described as a first date. The silence became a thing unto itself, impossible to ignore and improbable to end unless someone broke it. Maria searched her mind for something to talk about with the man, but she found that she couldn't come up with a discussion that wouldn't lead to an argument between the two of them. There really wasn't any common ground.

The Captain being the braver of the two spoke first, "I suppose in America you all are accustomed to eating all different ethnicities of cuisine."

"I suppose that's true." She could have told him that she had learned to cook from Wilomena, her family's cook while she was growing up. But that would have led to too many questions that she wasn't willing to answer. So she left her answer short and sweet.

Trying another subject the Captain started, "Your children are quite charming, Fraulein."

"Thank you. As are yours, Captain."

He looked towards the door of the cottage. It remained open and they could see half of each table where the children sat eating their dinner and talking in whispers. His eyes became cold and hard at the site of them. For the life of her, Maria couldn't imagine what had put such a distance between the man and his children. Of course his wife's death must have been hard, but so hard for him that he would shut his own children out was ludicrous in Maria's mind.

"hmmm…that's a matter of opinion," he stated. "How long have you lived in Austria?" Apparently Maria wasn't the only one that knew how to change touchy subjects.

"Eight years."

He looked at her for further information, when he found none forth coming he blazed on. "You mentioned your children's grandfather; does he live in Salzburg, as well?"

"No, he doesn't." Maria took another bite, hoping that this line of questioning would end soon. She took time to weigh her options. She could either continue with the ambiguous answers, which might just cause him to keep asking questions, or offer him just enough information to satisfy his obvious curiosity.

"My father in law lives in Vols." _Sometimes, _she added in her mind. "The children and I moved to Salzburg after my husband's death to be near my Aunt. Or rather, she is my husband's Aunt, though I've known her all of my life, she is like family to me." _The only family I have left._

"And your parents, do they still live in America?"

"My parents died when I was 13 in an accident." _Liar! One can hardly call a murder/suicide an accident, Maria. _Maria began calculating how many Hail Mary's she was going to have to say after next week's confession. She would probably still be saying them a year from now.

Lost in her own bad memories, the Captain's voice came through the fog, "I'm sorry for your loss, Fraulein. For that of your parents, as well as your husbands," there was a genuine look of sympathy in his eyes.

"Thank you Captain. And may I say that I too am sorry for your loss. I had met your wife quite a few times. She was an amazing woman."

"Yes, she was." The Captain looked away, his eyes clouding over with his own memories. They continued their meal together in silence. This time however, the silence was welcomed by both of them. Apparently they had found their common ground, after all.

_Sorry to leave you all here, I will be continuing this chapter, but it takes me so long to update that I wanted to get something posted. Thank you all again for reading this and all the wonderful reviews. The reviews really keep me going. I never know if what I'm writing is complete non-sense. It's nice to know that you are all enjoying it._

_Read and Review!_

_Disclaimer: I own nothing_


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Maria looked at the stack of dishes on her counter. Judging by the amount cluttering the surface, she knew that it would be a while before she would be able to serve dessert. She had been hoping that the Captain would excuse himself after dinner, but that didn't seem to be happening. He was circling the tiny kitchen stopping to take in the photographs that Maria had put out on the mantle of the fireplace.

There were pictures of her, Bill and the twins when they were infants, both cradling a baby in their arms. As well as a couple of small pictures of her and Bill on their wedding day, the Captain picked up Maria's favorite picture from that day. Her and Bill were standing close together, arms around the other, with their foreheads touching and noses just meeting. They had been waiting for the photographer to get his camera ready and had been talking with each other in quiet whispers. It had been the first time the whole day that they had been alone together; it had been a wonderful moment that she would never forget. They had been surprised when they heard the loud flash of the photographers' camera go off. The man had popped his head out from under the camera's cloak and had said, "Sometimes the best pictures are the ones where people don't know they are getting their picture taken." No one had ever been so right in their lives as that man.

Putting the picture down, the Captain picked up the next photograph. This one was of her, Bill and the twins when they were almost a year. Bill had just gotten a new camera and Maria had fixed it so that they could delay the picture and pose for themselves. She had simply fiddled with the mechanism and added a spring with a small hammer attached to a twisted shirt pin to delay the firing mechanism. Maria had always been good at taking things apart and putting them back together again with some improvements.

They had sat the babies in the curve of Bill's grand piano, each parent standing on either side to balance an infant. She and Bill had their heads thrown back in laughter because Bill had just made a joke about Maria breaking his camera when it didn't take a picture for a minute. When the firing pin did go off it captured the moment beautifully. It really wasn't the look they were going for, but whenever she would look at that picture she could hear his laughter. God, how she missed the sound of his laughter and the way it would light her up inside whenever she would hear it.

"The resemblance between your son and his father is uncanny, Fraulein." The Captain exclaimed putting the picture down.

"I know, other than my blue eyes he is his father's son." Liam was indeed the spitting image of his father. There were pictures of Bill from the same age that Liam was now, where other than the quality of the photograph paper; one couldn't tell the father from the son. There were also pictures of Vilhelm when he was a boy that held the same little face. The von Helstin genes were strong. Thank goodness for that. There had been no question of Bill's paternity.

Maria continued to watch the Captain from the corner of her eye as she hurriedly straightened the kitchen. Remembering the conversation she had the other day with the children about their mothers' pictures she had an idea, "Aren't photographs wonderful, Captain? They help you remember the past. I don't know what I would do if I couldn't look upon those memories. If someone took them and locked then away from me, it would be a horrible tragedy."

She thought she had been subtle; however, the glare she received from the Captain let her know that she had hit a sore spot with the man. She was beginning to learn that there were two sides to this Georg von Trapp. There was the charming and flirty man and then there was the dark and dangerous man. She also found that she wasn't sure which one she liked better. When he was flirting with her, she wished for the closed off one, and now that he was back to his original self, she wished he was the flirty one again.

Thankfully the children came into the kitchen and saved her just in time. The von Trapp children crowded by the doorway afraid to enter into the cottage, they hadn't even spoken to their father since his surprised arrival for dinner. The Captain turned his glaring eyes onto the children making Maria feel even guiltier for ruining his mood. If he was upset with her, that was fine, but she wasn't going to let him take it out on the children.

"Lynn, Liam, why don't you entertain our guests while I get dessert ready?" She turned to the von Trapp children, "Would you all like to hear them play?"

The von Trapp children turned their frightened eyes to their father. Now what had she said wrong? There were too many rules with this man, she thought. Did he not allow them to listen to music either?

"Of course we would love to hear them play." He might have turned back to the dark side, but he hadn't forgotten his manners.

"We would, Mother, but Liam hasn't tuned the piano yet. The middle C isn't playing right."

"I'll get my tools" Liam said heading towards the door. "It will only take me a minute."

"A piano isn't a toy, son." The Captain interjected, "I'll have a professional come and tune it this week."

Liam looked at the Captain, "Do you speak French, Captain."

The Captain looked confused by the question, "A little."

"Do you speak Spanish?"

Now the Captain looked annoyed at the boys' line of questioning. "No, I do not."

Maria's son turned to her and started speaking in Spanish.

"Esta parece hombre soy un idiota porque tengo una discapacidad". (This man thinks I am an idiot because I have a disability.)

"No, piensa que eres un niño pequeño, que probablemente no sabe cómo afinar un piano. Debido a que más niños no saben cómo afinar de piano".(No, he thinks you are a little boy, and little boys don't normally know how to tune piano's.)

"No me gusta le."(I don't like him.)

"Ni siquiera sabes lo."(You don't even know him.)

"Todavía no me gusta le."(I still don't like him.)

Maria turned to the Captain who had watched the exchange between mother and son with a bewildered look upon his face. He must have known that the conversation was about him and she was more than a little thankful that he didn't speak the language.

"Liam, go and get your tools." Maria switched back to German so as not to alienate everyone from their conversation. "Captain, trust me, my son could take your car apart and put it back together again better than it was before. He has a knack at fixing things." Turning to the von Trapp children, "why don't you all go and sit in the parlor. I'll serve dessert in a few minutes."

"Impressive Fraulein," the captain said once the children were out of the room, "your son speaks French, Spanish and German…"

"As well as, English, Italian, and he is learning Russian as we speak." Liam may have been his father's son in looks, beyond that he was all Maria. Whereas Lynn had inherited her father's musical talent, Liam had inherited Maria's genius. And Maria was determined that no one knew the full extent of the gifts her two children possessed. She would never allow her children to be exploited the way their parents had been throughout their childhood. What they decided to do with these gifts later on in life was their decision, but they would have a normal childhood for now. Something that her and Bill weren't allowed to have.

She was surprised with herself for giving up so much information to the Captain. Normally she wouldn't boast about her son's accomplishments, however, Maria wasn't sure if Liam's assumptions had been that far off. Oddly enough she was used to people assuming that Liam was slow because of his physical handicap. Usually she could let it go, but for some reason that was not the case with the Captain. There was no way she would allow that man to think one bad thought about her children. He was so presumptuous to begin with, that she rather enjoyed bringing him down a few notches. Which wasn't like her at all, leaving Maria again wondering what it was about the man that made her change all of her rules?

Maria lost in her own thoughts as she readied the dessert, hadn't even noticed that the Captain had finally joined the children in the parlor. She found herself humming along with the tune that her children were playing; they were halfway through the piece before she realized what their song of choice had been. It was the concerto that their father had written when he was twelve and Maria was ten. It was the same year that Bill had lost his mother. The highs and lows of the music, every note really, was Bill's torment from that year. To an untrained ear the overture was nothing more than a beautiful piece of art, but to Maria's ear it was Bill's tears falling in a melancholy melody.

This was also the same year that Maria had found out that her own father, Sigmund Kutschera, had never stopped loving Gertrude von Helstin. Even after Gertrude had married Bill's father, the two had carried on a torrid affair for years. Not so secretly, since everyone else knew about it but Bill and Maria. Her death had sent her father into a spiraling depression that would come to a devastating end three years later. The memory of that time froze Maria's movements. Placing her hands on the kitchen table for support, she bowed her head willing the thoughts to exit her mind.

"_He can't hurt you anymore, Maria. You have to be strong now; you have to be strong for the children." _The words of encouragement ran through her mind, but it wasn't her own inner voice she heard whispering them. It was Bill's voice once again egging her on, keeping her whole, the same way he used to all those years ago when she would flee to his house looking for safety. In a way Gertrude's death had destroyed her and Bill's childhood lives and from the ashes they were able to build something better for themselves.

"Mother," Lynn's voice brought Maria out of her reverie, "did you like the piece?" Lynn and Liam were standing side by side in the doorway silently watching their mother. Liam still held his violin in his hand; both looked a little shaken at the way they had found Maria.

"Of course, babies, it was wonderful." She walked over and rubbed each of their little cheeks, praying that they thought the tears in her eyes were brought on by their performance. "Look," she said wiping the tears from her eyes, "you brought me to tears." She knew the children didn't buy her story. They weren't stupid children; they knew there was some thing's that their mother kept from them. Some secrets that she would never tell them, or anyone else, no one needed to know the pain that lay just beneath the surface of her skin. That belonged to her and Bill. They alone had taken the pieces of their broken lives and put them back together and they alone would know the truth.

"Come," she said to the two of them as she put her arms around them guiding them into the kitchen. "Help me serve dessert…do you know how proud your father would be of you two?" They both shook their heads. Maria placed a kiss on each one's cheek, "Beyond words, just as I am. I can feel him smiling down on you right now. He had the best smile you know…."

The Captain stood in shadow listening to Maria tell her children about their father. He wondered how she could do that so easily with them, as if she were telling her children about a favorite book she once read. He, himself, couldn't remember the last time he had even spoken to his children about their own mother. He was sure that Gretl didn't even remember her, Agathe having passed when Gretl was only two. And yet, he knew he could never tell his smallest child how happy her mother was the day she was born. How she had held the baby in her arms and cried tears of joy as the new life wailed in her arms. No, these memories were best locked away. Memories only brought pain and he had had enough of that these past three years. Neither he nor his children needed to remember the past, he thought, as he put his armour back on. The past was just that, the past, never to be again. No one needed to be reminded of what could have been.

/

_Maria could hear his heavy footsteps coming down the hall. It was dark under her bed; she huddled behind the extra quilts building a fort around her body. She left just enough space so that she could see the corner of the room. A crack of light came through the darkness, he's here, she thought. She heard him circling around her bedroom. Then the opening of her closet door as he searched for her, the ransacking of her things when he couldn't find her, for a moment she thought she might be able to make it out the bedroom door if his back was turned. He was sure to check under the bed next. It was now or never. Then his face it was right there, right in front of her. She saw the evil in his eyes, heard his snicker as his arms reached under the bed and then…._Maria woke with a start.

It took her a few minutes to catch her breath and then a few more to convince herself that she wasn't back home, but somewhere else. Once she got herself under control, she quietly went down the stairs and climbed in bed between her two children.

"_It's all right, Maria. It was only a dream. He's in hell now, he can't find you now." _Bill's voice echoed in her head. She wanted to believe it. She wanted to believe that she was safe, but the fear that seared heart wouldn't let her. Gathering the sleeping children closer to her, she felt her silent tears burn down her cheeks. Tomorrow will be better, she told herself. It's always better in the morning.

/

_The next chapter I promise is the big blow up between the Captain and Maria. I'm still trying to build the story so it's taking longer than anticipated._

_I don't speak Spanish so if my translation is off…I apologize._

_I also don't know a darn thing about music…I couldn't tell you a concerto from anything else, so if I made any mistakes, please forgive me._

_Read and Review_

_I don't own anything, It's still just fun._


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

It was half past eleven on Monday afternoon when Maria finished up the first English lesson with the von Trapp children. It had gone better than Maria had hoped for. Lynn worked with Friedrich and Liesl, both of which already had a strong foundation in the language. Liam did the lesson that Maria had made up with Brigitta, Kurt, and Louisa, while Maria assessed where she stood with the younger two. Marta would be easier to teach, since she knew all of her German alphabet and already had strong writing skills. Gretl would be a little harder to teach in the traditional sense. She was just learning to write and read in German, teaching her English in that manner would surely confuse the little girl. Maria figured the best approach with her would be full immersion and to teach through play. She ended the lesson with Marta and Gretl with a tea party, where everything she spoke to them was in English. By the end, Gretl had one English word down pat…Cookie.

As Maria was packing up her things, she was taken by surprise when Gretl walked up to her side and hugged her hip. She turned in the girls embrace so that they were now in an official hug and caressed a little chubby cheek.

"What was that for?" Maria asked. Gretl simply shrugged her shoulders and buried her head in Maria's belly. "Well," she said as she picked the girl up into her arms, "if this is how you're going to end every lesson, then I can't wait until tomorrow." This won Maria another toothy smile from Gretl. She really was an adorable little girl, she thought as she placed her back on the floor. She was going to miss teaching her next year, if indeed the Anschluss did take place. She looked around the room at the other six von Trapp children; she was going to miss all of them. When she thought back to her years teaching here in Salzburg, there had been one constant, a von Trapp child in her classroom. She felt a sense of loss at the knowledge that next year someone else might be teaching the last von Trapp instead of herself. She hoped against all hope that the country that she had come to love held on to their principles and stopped the madness from happening.

"Tomorrow is my birthday!" Marta squealed behind Maria.

"Oh…that's right," Maria pretended to have forgotten, causing Marta to look down at the floor. Lifting the girl's face up with a finger under the chin Maria continued to joke, "You're turning what? Seventeen, right?"

"Noooo..." Marta said laughingly, "seven."

The door to the nursery opened and an older woman that Maria hadn't met yet, walked in carrying some odd looking clothes on hangers, "Hello," she greeted Maria, "I'm Frau Schmidt the housekeeper." Maria introduced herself and her children as the woman hung the clothes in the closet. Maria couldn't help but analyze the outfits going into the closet. They were a matching set, one presumably for each child, but the material was the strangest she had ever seen for clothing.

"These are different." Maria said to the housekeeper as she helped the woman put them away.

"Yes," the woman turned to Maria and in a conspiratorial voice continued, "they are the children's work clothes. The Captain had them made out of the old drapes that hung in the governess's room a few months back. He had news ones ordered after one of the children's pranks ruined a set of the old drapes, the rest he had made into clothes."

"Oh…I thought they were their play clothes."

The woman checked across the room to see if the children were listening, but they were huddled together with Maria's children conspiring something of their own, "The von Trapp children don't play. They march. They wear these clothes when they are punished and have to scrub the deck, so to speak. In warm weather he has them scrub the terrace, cold weather, it's the foyer floor."

"Well, at least he doesn't make them walk the plank." Maria tried to make light of the knowledge, but in reality she was seething with fury over how the Captain treated the children.

"Yet." Frau Schmidt glanced over at the children again, "Children, your father is leaving for Vienna in a few minutes," she told them, "if you want to say goodbye, you had better hurry down to the foyer, Franz has the car almost ready."

"Vienna?" Asked a stunned Louisa, "but we don't have a governess. How can he leave for Vienna?" Now it was starting to make sense to Maria. Without a governess their father couldn't leave for long periods of time.

"Frau Rainer will be taking on the responsibilities of governess", the housekeeper stated. "She'll be moving into the governess's room while your father is away." At first the words the housekeeper had spoken didn't sink into Maria's head. It wasn't until she saw the look of betrayal on the seven von Trapp children's faces that she realized that _she_ was Frau Rainer.

"Excuse me? I'm to do what?"

Frau Schmidt now looked as confused as Maria felt, "Didn't the Captain discuss this with you?"

"No."

"Oh, I don't understand. The Captain told me this morning after you arrived for the lesson, of the plans for the week, and to have two of the maids go over to the cottage and pack yours and your children's clothing for an extended stay here."

"He did what?" Now Maria was furious. Not only had the Captain put her into a bad position with the children, but he had also invaded her privacy. He was unbelievable. "Where is he?"

"Last I knew he was in his study, if he hasn't left already."

Maria flew out the door, leaving ten stunned people in her wake. When she reached the landing of the foyer she could hear a car's engine revving down the driveway. She opened the door in time to see the Captain's car go out the main gates, thanking fate itself for having driven her own car to the main house this morning; she jumped in and took off in his dust trail. How could he be so thoughtless and selfish? She was no longer angry with the liberties that he had taken with her own life, now she was angry because he had simply left without even saying goodbye to his children.

Maria's car may have been thirteen years old, but it didn't disappoint. She was able to overtake the Captain on the straight away, passing him swiftly; she put some distance between them and then swerved in front of him blocking his path. The Captain slammed on his breaks, sending his car into a skid, for a second she thought that he might collide into the side of her car. She closed her eyes waiting for the impact. When it didn't come, she opened them to see a furious Captain behind the wheel with a murderous look in his eye. He jumped out of his car and rushed over to Maria's door. Opening it, he violently pulled her out of her seat.

"Are you insane?" he screamed in her face. "You could have killed us both! What were you thinking?"

"What was I thinking?" She screamed back into his face as he shoved her against her car. He held her still with a forceful grip around her upper arms. She was sure to have ten fingerprint sized bruises left from the pressure of his hands. "It is I who should be asking you that." He increased the pressure a little more causing Maria to cry out in pain.

"Captain, you're hurting me." At the sound of her whimper the Captain immediately released his grip, raking his hand through his hair he began to pace in front of her.

"If you didn't want to help out with the children, Fraulein, you simply needed to say so. Not try to kill us."

"You didn't ASK," she yelled.

"I thought you liked my children."

"I love your children. That isn't what this is about!"

"Then what? What could be so important that you would try to run me off the road?"

"I thought it might knock some sense into you! Get you to listen to reason." He narrowed his eyes at her and moved to get back into his car. He was fleeing, Maria could recognize the signs. She was an expert at running away from arguments that she didn't want to have. But this argument wasn't for him, it was for his children, she needed him to see the error of his ways for their sake. She moved in front of him, blocking him from making his getaway.

"Get out of my way, Fraulein."

"No, you're going to listen to me, whether you like it or not." He tried to shove her out of the way, but she held her ground and pushed him right back. "You might scare your children, Captain, but you don't scare me."

"I'm not having this argument with you, now if you'll excuse me I have a long drive ahead of me. If you don't wish to help with the children, just tell Frau Schmidt."

"Stop, Captain, stop pushing them away," he started pacing again. He was like a caged animal looking for any way out. "They need you. Why can't you see that?"

"Nonsense," he said pushing her to the side again. "You tried to kill me over nonsense!"

"You're children aren't nonsense, Captain. They love you. Can't you love them back?" He stopped midway from getting back into the car. Maria took this as a sign that maybe she was getting to him. That maybe her words were sinking into that thick skull of his. "You are not the only one that has lost someone they love, Captain. Your children lost their mother. They are hurting just as much as you are. But you, you have left them orphans, when they need you the most."

"That isn't true!" He spit in her face. He stood back up from his seat and slammed the car door shut.

"Really?" She asked as he crowded her frame against the car. "Tell me Captain when is the last time you had a conversation with one of your children that didn't have a demand in it? Did you even remember that tomorrow is your daughter's seventh birthday?" That one got to him, but his reaction was unexpected to Maria. She had expected a look of revelation, of dawning as the realization that he had forgotten the significance of the day dawned on him. Instead she saw a look of guilt cross his face.

"You didn't forget, did you?" He shook his head in denial and walked away from her. "Why, then? Why would you do this to your daughter?"

He walked back to the car and yanked the handle so hard it actually came off in his hand. He threw it into the back seat and reached in the open window, lifting the inside latch. Getting into his seat, he spoke his final words over his shoulder. "She'll get over it."

"No, she won't." The Captain started his car, "Captain, please, you're losing them. It's not too late to change that, to get to know them." Ignoring her, he threw the car in reverse so that he could pull away. With nothing but tail lights in front of her, Maria finished, "They just want to be close to you."

_TSOM TSOM TSOM TSOM TSOM TSOM TSOM TSOM TSOM TSOM TSOM TSOM TSOM TSOM TSOM _

The Captain drove as fast as he could once he got onto the main thorough fair. He didn't care about speed limits; he didn't care if he forced other motorists off the road. He just wanted to get as much distance between himself and home. He refused to look in his rear view mirror any longer, every time he did he saw the young Fraulein standing back in Aigen on the little dirt road next to his house. The look of disappointment on her face as he drove away from her was still on her face, just as it had been when he had left her hours ago.

He had tried, unsuccessfully, to silence her words in his head, but they rambled around and around in his mind like shards of broken stone. At the moment he hated her. Hated her existence and loathed the fact that she thought she could read him like an open book. Who was she to judge him anyway, a lowly teacher? She needed to be put back into her place. No one spoke to him like that. Well, no one except Agathe. At the thought of his late wife, his heart froze.

What would she think of him abandoning their children? _Dammit, I didn't abandon my children_, he screamed at his conscience. Most of the men he knew spent no time with their children. They all had them shipped away to boarding schools. Hell, half of them had spawns that they didn't even know existed. Why should he be any different?

"_You were different, once upon a time, Georg." _The sound of his late wife's voice in his head had been so loud and clear, that he looked around the car to make sure that she wasn't there with him. He pulled the car off the road onto the grass, and sat for a moment catching his breath. Damn that Fraulein, he screamed in his head. He would ban her from the house once he got home. Fire her for her insubordination.

"_You need her, Georg. You need to listen to her. Think of the children." _Agathe's voice again invaded his mind. He looked in the back seat, she wasn't there. Flashes from his past ran through his mind. Memories of the children, each one at different ages, like snapshots through time. Laughing in the lake while teaching them to swim, Liesl learning to ride her first bike, making kites with Friedrich and Kurt, Louisa catching her first fish, Brigitta running to him for a hug. When was the last time he had hugged one of his children? He couldn't remember. He thought of them now. No longer was there a happy light in their eyes when they saw him enter a room, but a shadow of fear. When they had needed his love the most he had taken it from them. He had put that fear there, putting his own selfish grief before theirs. _Christ…what have I done?_

He threw the car in drive and took the first exit to turn around. He needed to get home. Before he couldn't get away fast enough, now he couldn't get home fast enough. He didn't even stop to call Elsa to tell her not to expect him tonight. All that mattered were his children.

Even driving past all of the speed limits, Georg arrived back home well past the children's bed time. He parked the car and ran as fast as he could to the main door. A stormed had brewed on his way back, and the rain had turned into a torrential downpour as he had started down the dirt road leading to the house. He stood for a moment on the foyer landing. Now that he was back home he didn't know what to do. In his heart he wanted to run to their rooms and wake them all up, shouting "I'm home, I'm back and I'll never leave you again." But would they care? Was there too much damage done?

From up above him he heard a strange noise. At first he couldn't pinpoint it. Then he realized it was singing and the sound of little feet dancing around the upper floor. He ran towards the noise, it was located outside of the governess's room. Fraulein Maria had stayed with his children and now they were all in her bedroom with her own two dancing around while she sang them a song. It was a silly song, something about favorite things. He stood in shadow and listened to them for a minute and then let himself be seen.

His heart broke at the look of terror he saw in his children's faces when they saw him come into the room. They quickly lined up in formation, as he had taught them to do, and the guilt over how he had treated them these past few years tore through his heart. Maria's own two children hid behind her, as he gave her a seething look.

"You've come home, Captain." He didn't answer her. Instead he walked over to his line of children and started pacing before them.

"What is this song that you were all singing?" They didn't answer him. "Your favorite things, correct?" He answered for them.

"Let me see if I get this right." He walked in front of his eldest daughter, "Liesl, yours would be hmmm…telegrams, Friedrich…girls," the boys face turned beat red, yes Friedrich, I was a boy once myself he thought, I know exactly what is on every fourteen year old boys mind, "Louisa, bugs, Kurt, strudel, Brigitta, a good book, Marta, pussy willows, and Gretl" he paused here for dramatic effect. The children, he could tell, weren't sure what to make of their father at this point. They weren't sure if he was playing with them or just prolonging the torcher before their punishment. "Gretl, I'm guessing bunny rabbits." His youngest couldn't hide her shy little smile.

He paced in front of them again, "Would you all like to know mine?" He turned to them; they all had their eyes glued to him, eyes that were a mixture of his and Agathe's. God, he thought, how could I have treated these precious gifts so badly? "I didn't really know what it was until just a moment ago, but now I do. I have eight of them. You seven, plus your laughter, those are my favorite things."

There was a look of confusion all around as the children processed the information. He held his arms out to them, inviting them to come closer. Still unsure if he was going to turn into the dog that bites, the children hesitated. It wasn't until he reached for Kurt and rubbed his chubby cheek that the children truly believed their father was home.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

The Captain stood on his terrace watching the nine children play in the lake. His older five, plus the Fraulein's daughter were out far in the water playing some sort of game with a large ball, while his younger two and the Fraulein's son were in the shallow part with the Fraulein herself. It had been two days since his unexpected return home and he and his children were still unsure how to act around each other. Yesterday had gone well, with the help of Fraulein Maria. She had held a little birthday party for Marta with games and all at her house early in the afternoon after the children's lessons. Then she took the family on a nature hike. The children had been surprised when he had joined them, and had even enjoyed his company. He had thought that they were on a good road to recovery, until this morning at breakfast. Without the Fraulein there, the conversation between he and his children had been stale.

He had tried unsuccessfully to engage them in conversation, but all he got out of them were one word answers. He couldn't really blame them though, for he was sure that he had said more words to them in these past two days then he had in the past three years. When he excused himself to his study, he had seen a knowing look pass around the table. He knew then that the children were still unsure if there old father wouldn't be returning after all, he had always hid from them in his study. This was going to be harder than he had thought.

He had spent the remainder of his morning on the phone with Elsa, while the children had their English lessons. She had been none too understanding about his reasons for returning home, and he was rather annoyed with her. He had been courting her for the past year, spending most of his time with her in Vienna. Time that he should have been spending with his children; now that the tables had turned she couldn't quite wrap her mind around it. He had expected more from her, but now that he thought about it, she was never one to even bring his children up in conversation. He couldn't remember her even asking him questions about them. Which hadn't bothered him until two days ago, but now, he wasn't sure if he could spend the rest of his life with someone that put his children last. He needed to slow things down with her now.

Elsa must have sensed this from him, for she insisted on coming to Aigen since he couldn't come to her. It had taken him an hour to convince her to at least give him a little time alone with the children before her arrival. They had finally agreed on a day the following week.

This didn't give him much time with his children. Or the young Fraulein. Who, at this very moment, was exiting the lake wearing nothing but a very wet and clinging bathing suit. Making his new found rule against her very hard not to break. She was definitely off limits, his mind told him, you need her to help you with the children. But his body said something else. At the moment his body was winning the battle.

He snuck up behind her on the beach, where she sat drying her longs legs off with a towel. Somewhere in the back of his mind the bruise that showed across her back registered, but for the moment he choose to ignore it. He had one goal in mind as he silently approached her.

"The boy doesn't swim?" She jumped about ten feet in the air and turned towards him with her hand on her chest.

"Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, Captain!" He couldn't help but laugh. It was exactly the reaction he had hoped for. She swatted his arm with her own wet and sandy hand, while she tried to regain her breath.

"Didn't anyone ever tell you, Captain that it isn't nice to sneak up on people?"

"But, you are so much fun to sneak up on." Now that he was up close and personal, he couldn't help but take in her figure that the wet suit did nothing to hide. He watched as a droplet of water fell from her hair. He followed its path with his eyes, wishing that he could reach out and trace its journey with his finger. His mouth may have gone slack as the droplet disappeared into the V of her cleavage never to be seen again.

"Hello," she waved her hand in front of his face breaking his trance, "I'm up here." She had caught him staring and right now he really didn't care.

"Yes, but this is much more interesting." She playfully shoved him back and then wrapped her towel around her mid-section. This time, the bruises on her arms were impossible to miss. He gently took the free arm that wasn't holding the towel around her, and inspected the mark. The bruise across her back could have been caused by a fall, but these on her arms, someone had to put them there. The thought of someone hurting her sent him into a rage. He'd kill the bastard that had done this to her.

"It's alright, Captain, I know it was an accident," she said, "I bruise easily." Her words didn't register at first. He heard the forgiveness in her voice for the person that had marked her skin so violently, what he couldn't understand was why it seemed aimed at him. Then he remembered the argument they had the other day on the road, how he had grabbed her and shoved her against the car. The way she had cried out in pain when his anger was at its highest point and he had crushed her arms with his strength. He had wanted to hurt her then, he had wanted to break her bones in his own two hands for making him face his own selfishness. By the look of the evidence left behind, he nearly had. Guilt replaced the rage.

"I did this to you?" He released her arm and backed away from her when she didn't reply, "I…I don't know what to say, Fraulein. I apologize, I behaved badly the other day…I", he was at a loss of words for his behavior.

"It's alright, Captain, I wasn't at my best the other day either, I am sorry…"

"No, Fraulein," he cut off her apology, "you were right. It was high time someone knocked some sense into me. I only hope it's not too late." He looked out to the lake where the children were. His older five out in the deep water noticed him and happily waved their hands at him, calling him to join them.

"See Captain, it's never too late." He smiled at them and waved back. Noticing again how the Fraulein's son stayed in the shallow water, he remembered what had made him approach her in the first place.

"Why can't the boy swim?" Immediately he saw the walls go up in the Fraulein, he realized now that he had been too blunt with his question, but the damage was already done.

"He could swim," she answered him tersely; "He just won't let me teach him. Every time I try, he comes up with some excuse not to do it."

"Oh I see," he untied his swimming robe, taking it off his shoulders, he saw that he wasn't the only one prone to staring. The Fraulein's eyes were everywhere but on his face. He could almost feel their caress as they moved from his exposed neck, to his chest, down his stomach that was now in knots from her gazes. God, if this is what her eyes could do to him; he couldn't imagine what the rest of her would do. If it wasn't for the nine little witnesses out in the lake, he'd have lost all control. Control that he needed to regain quickly, before his libido began to show itself again. So much for his new found rule. He had already discarded it not a full twenty-four hours after making it. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to delay Elsa's arrival. With her here he'd have to behave himself.

"Hello, Fraulein," he waved his hand in her face, mimicking her movements from earlier, "I'm up here." She turned beat red from having been caught, avoiding his eyes she looked out upon the lake. "I will teach the boy to swim." His unexpected statement broke the Fraulein out of her thoughts. He should have walked away then, but he simply couldn't help himself. She was too easy to bait and her reaction to him every time he did fueled the fire in his veins. If, anything, she was the reason for his boldness towards her. If she didn't react with that look of innocence and scandal he could leave her alone. In reality it was her that made him act this way and it was her that now prompted him to lean close to her ear and whisper his next words.

"You know, Fraulein, sometimes it takes a man to do the job." He had let his breath caress her skin, and felt the shiver run through her body. When he pulled away he grazed his lips just lightly across the underside of her jaw. The act was meant to tease her, to push her a little further out of her cocoon, what he didn't expect was his own reaction. It was hot and pulsing and demanding of more. He couldn't remember a time that he had reacted in such a strong way to a woman. This alone scared him straight. He would definitely have to leave her alone now, she was much too dangerous.

He walked away from her towards the beach. After a few steps, he turned to her. "Fraulein, I am sorry, for what I have done." He had hoped she understood that he meant that it wasn't just for the bruises. She had done so much for him in the few days that he had known her and what had he done for her? Taken liberties with her, belittled her, and marked her skin. He would be damned if he would mark her heart with his own selfish desires. She deserved more than that. He would have to make all this up to her somehow.

_I own nothing_

_Just to let you all know, I am not that happy with the way this chapter turned out. I have the story planned out in my head, but everytime I try to write it, something entirely different forms on the screen. Well please, let me know what you all think. Am I losing the story, going off track too much? Hopefully I can turn it around with the next chapter._

_Please read and review_


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

After leaving Maria speechless again on the beach, the Captain approached her young son in the shallows of the water. As he edged closer to the boy he began to notice the difference between the boy and the rest of the children. Wearing only swimming trunks made the boys frame stand out. There wasn't an ounce of fat on his body. He was so thin that the Captain could count every bone in the boys back, his legs were like toothpicks. He was only slightly taller than Marta, but he was the same age as Brigitta, his own twin towered over him when she came over to check on him. The Captain was too far away to hear what the girl said to her brother, but whatever it was the boy didn't appreciate it. He swatted her away as if she were a pestering fly. Shooting her brother a seething look the girl went and joined the others back out in the deep water. Turning back towards her brother the two siblings shot words at each other in English that the Captain didn't know, though knowing his own children he could only imagine what they were.

He came up along the right side of the boy. Whatever his physical condition was, it seemed, to the Captain that it affected only the right half of the boy's extremities. The cold of the water made the boys muscles in his right leg and arm tighten up, the Captain guessed, for he was holding them both close to his body to keep warm. By this point the older children and Marta and Gretl had seen him enter the water. They all called out to him at once to join them.

"I'll be out in a moment." He yelled to the eager children. Looking down at Liam he noticed that the boy's lips were blue and chattering. Without hesitation he lifted the boy up and brought him over to the dock where the towels were laid out and wrapped one around the protesting boy.

"I could have done that myself." The boy said.

"Yes, I know you could have, but you wouldn't have." The Captain answered. The boy gave him a look that the Captain had seen before, only moments earlier on the boy's mothers face. Oh no, the Captain thought, there's two of them.

"You know," the Captain began, "if you move around in the water you wouldn't get so cold." The boy simply shrugged his shoulders and continued to look annoyed at the Captain's presence.

"I don't like swimming that much." The boy answered. The Captain noticed how he looked out to the older children that were splashing around and having a joyous time. He saw the look of disappointment in the boy's eyes that he couldn't be out there with them.

"After you warm up a bit, we could try again. I could show you some techniques that I learned in the Navy for keeping warm in cold water."

"Ahhh…no, no thank you Captain." The boy looked out again to the other children. Then the Captain saw it, the pride, the boy was too proud to admit that he couldn't swim.

"Liam," the Captain began, "Do you know what it means to barter?" The boy rolled his eyes at him and nodded his head. "Well, what would you say if I told you that I have something to barter with you?" Now the little guy was intrigued. The Captain might have found his way in. "If I teach you how to swim, when no one is around of course, will you give me English lessons? When no one is around, of course."

"I thought you knew how to speak English."

"I thought I did too, but the other day when I first met your mother she said something to me in English and I understood only about half of what she said." Liam let out a hearty laugh.

"Was she mad?" He asked.

"I don't think so, maybe a little, why?"

"She always curses in English when she is mad." Now it was the Captain's turn to laugh. He could just imagine the Fraulein cursing up a storm with that temper of hers.

"So," the Captain put his hand out for the boy to shake, "do we have a deal?"

Liam hesitated for a moment; looking back out to his peers in the water he began nodding his head. Finally he took the Captain's hand, "Deal."

TSOM TSOM TSOM TSOM TSOM TSOM TSOM TSOM TSOM TSOM TSOM TSOM TSOM TSOM TSOM

The next ten days flew by. Maria could hardly believe the transformation that happened right in front of her eyes. The Captain was a completely new person. He became attentive to the children. He spent time with them. Every afternoon he would join them on whatever outing they had planned. Or rather, Maria had planned, for though he seemed to enjoy the time with them, he relied on her to keep them entertained. Maria had figured out his game plan by the third day after the Captain's return. Though her and her children had returned their clothing to the cottage they spent most of the day at the main villa.

The first few days had Maria and her children spending mid-morning to early evening with the von Trapp children. At first, the Captain would ask every day for her and her children to join them for lunch. He would then slyly ask what their plans were for the afternoon. Of course, children being children, he knew no matter what they were, they would want to join Maria and her crew for the day. Maria knew this as well and began planning things that they all could do.

By mid-afternoon the Captain would then invite Maria and the children to join them for dinner since his family had kept them busy all afternoon. Her own children being children, they of course would gleefully accept the Captain's invitation without waiting for Maria's reply.

Then the Captain asked Maria if she wouldn't mind tutoring the children with their regular studies since he had yet to procure a governess. He wanted her to add the time in right after breakfast, so by the end of the second week, Maria and her children were having all three meals with the von Trapp family. Only using the cottage for sleep, Maria worried that this would bother her own children, not having their mother all to their selves like they normally had. Saturday, however had proved her worries to be for naught, for Liam and Lynn begged her all morning to go over to the main house and bring the von Trapp children to them. It eased her mind a little to know that they were taking to this unexpected intrusion into their lives so well.

Especially Liam, who each day would disappear while Maria was tutoring the children, she didn't know where he went to and when she asked him, his answers were vague. One day she sent Lynn to go and find him and when her daughter returned, she too had vague answers. Then, the following day, she began disappearing along with her brother. Finally Maria had had enough of the secrets and demanded to know where they went to everyday.

The two children had shared a knowing look, and then shrugging her shoulders Lynn had replied, "The Captain is teaching us something, Mother. It's meant to be a surprise." Maria couldn't imagine what it was that the Captain could possibly teach her children that they didn't already know.

"What is he teaching you?" Maria had asked, "Submarine warfare?" Really though, she was grateful for whatever it was that he was doing with them. Maria couldn't remember a time that Lynn and Liam had gotten along so well. As a matter of fact, all of the children got along famously. Liam had found the big brother he had always wanted in Friedrich and Lynn had found the little sisters she used to beg Maria for in Marta and Gretl. This new routine was working quite nicely for everyone involved.

The only change that bothered Maria the most, however, was the one thing that she should have been most grateful for. As much as the Captain opened up to the children, he had closed himself off to her. Since the day on the beach when he had made her knees go weak, he no longer flirted, he was no longer forward, and he was nothing less than a gentleman in her presence. What she couldn't figure out was why it bothered her so much. Hadn't she wanted him to back away? Hadn't she told herself that day on the beach when he had set her insides on fire and left her breathless with his bold actions, that if he ever did that again she would pack the children up and leave? So why now did his cordial conversation and casual questions fill her with a sense of loss?

"Mother, they're here." Lynn's delighted squeal interrupted Maria's thoughts. Lynn had had her face plastered to the window all morning waiting for the von Trapp children to arrive. Although, Maria was supposed to be off on the weekends, she had told the Captain that she would take the children on a picnic while he was picking up the Baroness and another friend in Vienna. They were supposed to have arrived on Wednesday, but the Baroness hadn't wanted to miss a Gala, so the plans were changed to Saturday, instead. Due to the limited train schedule on the weekends, the Captain now had to drive all the way to Vienna and pick his two friends up. Apparently the 10 am train was much too early for the Baroness to meet. Maria didn't mind though, she loved spending time with all of the children, and had even told the Captain that if he didn't feel like taking the return trip home until the next day she would spend the night with the children at the villa. The memory of the conversation that she and the Captain had had about it replayed in her mind as she and the children set out for the picnic.

"It's not that long of a drive, Fraulein," he had said when she suggested that he not try the return trip home until the next day.

"Its three hours there, maybe four if there's traffic, and then three to four hours back. If you don't leave Vienna until after one you'll be on the road still at four." The Captain had stared at her, waiting for her to finish her thought. She had hoped that he had understood her meaning, but he was gesturing with his hand, asking for more information.

"And what is so wrong with being on the road at four o'clock?" He had questioned. Why did he have to be so difficult, Maria had wondered. He had to know damn well why she didn't want him driving at that time, but he was making her say it.

"Because you fall asleep every day at four o'clock."

"I do not!" He had denied. She had to laugh, now, from the look he had given her, it was chock full of male pride.

"Yes, Captain, you do. You fell asleep the other day on the beach when the children were in the lake; you fell asleep on the veranda when the children were water coloring. And yesterday when it was raining you fell asleep while I was teaching your children to sing in the parlor. Each day, every day, you fall asleep during the four o'clock hour." She finished on a triumphant note.

He on the other hand, had cocked his jaw at her and narrowed his eyes, "I didn't know that you paid that much attention to what I was doing."

"Well, it's kind of hard to miss, Captain."

"Because you snore, Father." Friedrich, who had been listening to their whole conversation piped in.

"Yeah, you sound like a bear, Father!" Gretl had thrown her two cents in.

"Oh I'll show you a bear!" He had exclaimed and then chased the children around the yard for an hour in a game of tag. Maria had watched them all play from the veranda while she packed up the day's activity. He was really great with the children now. She could tell that he was enjoying the game as much as they were. He even took Liam under his wing and helped him play the game. Liam couldn't out run the other children, nor could he catch up to them. So the Captain would herd the children toward Liam whenever he was it. He did the same with Marta and Gretl. When the game was over, Maria had told the children to go inside and change for dinner. As she was about to leave with Liam and Lynn to do the same she had found the Captain sleeping on the couch again in the parlor. He had been in the sitting position with his legs stretched out in front of him and his arms crossed against his chest. His head was leaned back in the oddest of positions and his snores had echoed throughout the room. Maria had taken one of the couch pillows and had fixed it on the arm of the couch, and then she had pushed the sleeping man's upper body down so that his head could rest on the pillow. The jostling movements woke him slightly from his slumber.

"I'm only resting my eyes." He had said in sleep slurred speech.

"Of course, Captain." She had said as she had lifted his legs up onto the couch. Once his body was completely down, he had turned on his side and pulled the pillow close to him and nuzzled his face into it. A lock of hair had fallen onto his forehead and Maria had smoothed it back into place. Suddenly his free hand had shot up and he had grabbed Maria's hand and placed it against his cheek.

"If I'm tired tomorrow I'll have Max drive us home."

"Promise?"

"Hmm…" he mumbled as sleep took him again, "Promise."

Sitting on the mountain top watching the children play, Maria couldn't blame the man for being exhausted at the end of the day. Keeping up with nine children was quite tiresome, even for her. She had taken the children to her favorite place on the Unterberg Mountain for their picnic. Now she was regretting her decision to come here, she felt like she could sleep for a week as she stretched out on the picnic blanket. Louisa came and sat behind Maria's head and began playing with Maria's hair as she "rested her eyes" as the Captain would say.

"It is lovely here, Fraulein Maria, I'm so glad you brought us here." Maria opened her eyes and looked up at the clear blue sky. She could feel the movement of the grass as the gentle breeze of the day caressed the tops of each blade and she heard the rustling of the leaves in the nearby trees. Her mind began to fill with memories from long ago, and she cherished each one.

"Yes it is Louisa," Maria replied as she looked into the eyes of the girl. "It reminds me of a place that my late husband and I used to go to when we were young." If it were anyone else sitting on the blanket with her, Maria would have kept that information to herself. It was easier to be honest with the children.

"You loved your husband very much, didn't you?"

"hmmm…"Maria said on a sigh, "very much." Maria looked again into Louisa's eyes; she could tell something was on the girls mind. Out of all the children, Louisa was the most distant. She didn't look for affection like the other children did. She simply took what she got and was happy with it. Maria sat up and turned to the girl, giving her her full attention.

"Is something on your mind, Louisa?"

The girl looked down at the ground and shrugged her shoulders. Reaching up, Maria stroked the girls' cheek, "You can tell me Louisa, I won't say anything to the others."

Biting her lower lip the girl contemplated taking Maria into her confidence, "Do you think Father loves Baroness Schraeder?" Oh so that was what this was all about. The impending visit from the infamous Baroness Schraeder that they had all heard so little about this last week. The Captain had only brought her name up twice that Maria could recall. First to tell them that she wouldn't be arriving on Wednesday and then again to tell them all that she would be arriving on Saturday instead. Other than those two pieces of business, they knew nothing about the woman, or her reason for visiting.

"I don't know Louisa," Maria answered the girls question as best she could. She honestly didn't know, nor did she want to. Whenever Maria would think about that very question since her conversation with Frau Schmidt the housekeeper, who had told Maria that she thought the Captain was thinking of marrying the woman, a tight knot would form in Maria's stomach and a slow indescribable ache would pang in her chest. For the most part Maria chose to ignore it.

Looking at the girl in front of her, Maria could tell her answer had done nothing to ease the girls concerns.

"Would it be so horrible if he did, Louisa?" The girl shrugged her shoulders again and looked out upon the field watching her brothers and sisters play. "Don't you want him to be happy?"

"I just…I don't know," Louisa struggled with her feelings, the words choking in her mouth, "I don't like the idea of her replacing our Mother." She finally confided. Oh-that was a hard one-Maria wasn't sure how to handle the girls' insecurities.

"No one could ever replace your Mother, Louisa. She was and always will be your Mother. No one could ever take her place and replace her." She placed her had on the girls' shoulder, "But life does have to go on. I'm sure your mother wouldn't have wanted your father to live his life alone. He deserves to be able to move on Louisa."

"I suppose that's true." Louisa replied in a weak voice. Maria understood how the girl felt. It was hard to let life move on when all you hoped for was the past to return. "But you didn't." This last whispered statement caught Maria by surprise.

"I didn't what?"

"Move on-I mean-you never remarried and you're happy, right? And you have been alone way longer than father." Maria knew the girl meant no harm in asking the question, but it stung all the same.

"It's different for me, Louisa." Was all she could reply.

"How?" Oh to be young and curious again, Maria thought as she struggled to come up with an answer to the girls' endless questions.

"What my husband and I had-it only comes once in a lifetime, if you're lucky. I found it once and I am content with that." She could never let another man into her heart. It still beat for Bill only, even though she had promised him endless times that she would move on after he was gone, that would be the only promise she ever made to him that she would willingly break.

Maria stood, ending the conversation. She called all of the children over and began practicing the song that she had taught them to sing for the Baroness. Doubt lingered in her mind if she had really helped Louisa with her problem or not. How could she really help the girl when she couldn't help herself?


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

The Captain had arrived home the day after his departure, having taken advantage of the good Fraulein's offer to stay the night with the children. Or rather, Elsa had insisted that they leave on Sunday instead of Saturday as initially planned. There was a dinner party that she hadn't wanted to miss and had taken Max and Georg along with her.

Although he hated those kinds of affairs, the Captain couldn't let Elsa down. He felt guilty enough for betraying her with his thoughts about his little Fraulein, as he had begun to call Maria in his head during his lustful fantasies. Funny as it was, he felt guilt over a woman he only touched in dreams, but no remorse what so ever for the mistress he had kept in town for the past two years. That relationship he ended two weeks ago when he had reunited himself with his children. He had told himself he didn't need any further distractions from rebuilding his relationship with the children, however, he knew that was a lie.

He had gone to his mistress the night after the first lake swim with the Fraulein and all of the children. His action towards the Fraulein that day had left him frustrated and in desperate need of release. Though he had found what he was looking for, in the end, it felt like a cheap imitation, leaving him just as frustrated as he was when he had walked into the door. He had lied to himself then too, telling himself he felt that way because of his relationship with Elsa. But he knew damn well it had nothing to do with her. It hadn't been Elsa's lips he imagined as he kissed the mistress into submission, it hadn't been Elsa's sighs he heard in his head, it wasn't Elsa's name that he choked back as he spilled himself into the woman and it wasn't Elsa's face he missed lying next to him on the pillow that night.

"Whoever this woman is that has stolen your heart, Georg, is a lucky woman." His mistress had said after they had both caught their breath.

"Well, you know Elsa and I have grown closer this last year." Was his feeble attempt to cover the truth that lay just beneath his skin where he refused to let it surface.

"Right, Elsa," the woman had replied, when he raised an innocent eyebrow at her she continued, "like I said, whoever she is, she is one lucky lady."

He had cursed himself then as he did last night at the dinner party. When all of the men had retired to the sitting room for brandy and cigars lost in their mundane conversations, he had been lost in thoughts of his Fraulein. What were she and the children doing now, he had wondered? Was she singing to them, as she often did with that angelic voice that he heard in his dreams? Was she braiding the little one's hair? Were she and Brigitta talking about their romance books or was she hovering over Liam as she did all too often? Dammit, he had cursed, why didn't you just take her to bed like you initially planned, he had admonished himself. Then she would be out of his head. This nonsense was a complication that he didn't need right now. He should be concentrating on the political tensions and his future with Elsa, not whether or not the Fraulein's shampoo was scented with lavender or jasmine.

Somehow he had gotten through the rest of the dinner without making too much of a fool of himself. There had been a few jokes made behind his back that he overheard about his lack of interest in topics. They ranged from the number of children that he had to his political convictions and then of course pressure from Elsa to tie the knot. One of the jokes was made by the Chancellor of the school where Maria taught during the school year.

"I do believe he's got Mariaitis," the Chancellor had declared to a small party of men.

"Mariaitis? What is that?" A short gangly wisp of a man that Georg only knew of because of his affiliation with the Nazi party had asked.

"What all of my male teachers suffer from all year long, my good man." Was the Chancellor's pompous reply.

By the end of the evening the man had had way too much brandy and had actually come up behind Georg and placed his arm around his shoulders.

Then he drunkenly whispered into his ear, "If you find the key to that chastity belt she wears you'll let me know won't you? I've been looking for it for eight years and haven't found it yet." The Captain would have pounded the man into the floor if it hadn't been for the Chancellor's friend ushering the drunken man out of the room, apologizing for his friend's behavior. Oddly enough it wasn't what the man had said that stuck in Georg's mind, but the reaction from the older gentleman from across the room that replayed over and over again in his thoughts. The gentleman had glared at the drunken Chancellor as if he had known what, or rather, whom the topic of the whisper had been about. Then he had held Georg's gaze as the man was ushered out of the room. Once the door was closed and the room had quieted down, the gentleman nodded his head as if in appreciation to Georg and then left the room himself. For the life of him Georg couldn't figure out why the man's face remained in his head. There was a familiarity to it that he couldn't quite place.

Even now, sitting on his veranda sipping tea with Elsa and Max, he couldn't get the feeling that he had seen that face before out of his mind.

"So where are these children that I have heard so much about?" Elsa inquired.

Georg checked his watch, "I have no idea. I am sorry that they weren't here to greet you, my dear."

"Oh I don't mind," she said and then added in a seductive whisper, "I like having you all to myself." She reached a hand out and placed it on his arm looking around the property, dramatically she declared, "I like it here, Georg, it's so calm and peaceful."

Max chuckled from the other side of the table, "Well don't get used to it. It won't be so quiet once the seven children show up."

"Nine, actually." The words flew out of his mouth, before the Captain had realized what he was saying.

"Nine?" His two friends questioned simultaneously.

"When did you procure two more offspring that I wasn't aware of, Georg?" His best friend for over twenty years questioned.

"Ha Ha, they aren't mine. " Although I wish…he stopped his mind there…he wasn't sure what he wished, "The tutor has two children of her own. The same age as Brigitta," he looked at Elsa who held a questioning look towards him. She didn't know which one Brigitta was, "my ten year old." He clarified.

"Oh."

"They are both ten?" Max questioned.

"Ah yes, well, almost ten. I believe there birthday is at the end of the month, as I have been told a hundred times by the boy. " The Captain chuckled to himself thinking back to the last English lesson he received from Lynn and Liam. Somehow the subject of their birthday had come up and Liam had announced that _his_ birthday was coming up soon.

Lynn, annoyed with her brother had said, "Ah hello, it's my birthday too."

"Yeah, whatever." Liam had said dismissively.

"Georg, do you want to share the joke with us?" Max questioned, calling the Captain out of his reverie.

"It's nothing, nothing." Thinking of the Fraulein's twins, he had to laugh. The way they fought with each other over any little thing. How Liam would push his much larger sister when he thought no one was looking and how Lynn would scowl at her brother whenever he did. Once when the Captain was spying on them with his spy glass in his bedroom he saw them playing together on the beach in front of the cottage. Liam was pestering and nagging his sister to no end, which was kind of comical giving Liam's size compared to his sister, when the girl had finally had enough and had thrown the boy about ten feet in the air. Liam had simply gotten up and limped back to his sister who then brushed off her brother's backside. "They are the most mismatched twins you'll ever meet."

Off in the distance a cacophony of noise interrupted the serenity of the day. No one need to tell the Captain the source of the commotion, he could recognize the signature right away. Only his children and the Fraulein with her crew could create such havoc. For the other two people sitting at the table it ruined the peace of the day and two weeks ago it would have done the same for him. Now, however, it set the world right again.

The Captain got up from his seat and walked to the edge of the sidewalk leading to the lake where the noise generated from. He saw them, before they saw him, rowing across the lake in a small boat. Laughing and singing as they rowed. Without thinking of the consequences, the Captain took the boatswain whistle out of his chest pocket and blew out the old command for queue up. He had meant it to be a joke; however, the nightmare that began to unfold in front of him told him that his children had not yet forgotten their old way of life.

As soon as his children heard the sound they immediately stood in the small craft trying to line up, much to Maria's dismay. She then stood to still the children, whose movements had begun rocking the boat to and fro. Out of the corner of his eye the Captain saw Liam losing his balance, his head banged against the metal top rail of the boat as the craft rocked forward where it dumped all of its passengers into the water. Except Liam, whose crooked leg was caught under one of the seats.

Before the boat completely flipped over, Liam had met the Captains eyes in panic. A nano-second later Liam was gone and the Captain was looking at the underside of the boats carriage. As his feet carried him to the shore on their own accord, the Captain was stripping off his suit jacket and counting heads as they emerged from the water. One, two, three, Louisa has Gretl that made five. Marta emerged next to Lynn; Liesl rounded the number of heads to eight. As his shoed feet hit the water he saw Maria coming from the port side of the boat. She didn't know that Liam was trapped beneath it.

"Maria," he yelled as he dove into the water, "Liam!" He didn't take the time to finish his sentence as he swam as quickly as he could to the boat. Friedrich sensing his father's panic took in the scene surrounding him and the direction that his father was swimming to. Acting on instinct he dove under the water in search of his missing friend meeting up with his father underneath the upturned boat. The two searched in vain with Maria joining in on their efforts. With no Liam in sight the three surfaced for air.

"Where is he?" My God, where is he?" Maria was in full blown panic mode as she gulped air through her sobs.

Friedrich and the Captain went down again, this time searching a little further away from the boat.

"This is all I found." Friedrich held up a shoe when he resurfaced.

The Captain turned in frantic circles in the water searching for any sign of Liam. He was about to go back under when he noticed Maria's current state. She was sobbing uncontrollably at this point and hyperventilating. Shock was beginning to set in. He needed to get her out of the water before she became another victim of the accident.

He was about to tell Friedrich to bring Maria to shore when he was interrupted by Max calling out his name from the beach.

"Georg, Georg!" The Captain turned in time to see Max hoisting Liam out of the water. "Is this who you are looking for?" The clamp that had been seized around his heart released and the Captain was able to breathe again when he saw Liam stand on his own two feet and wave back at him. The boy was alright, he was safe, thank God.

He was about to celebrate with his would be fellow rescuers, however, the celebration was cut short when he saw the Fraulein's eyes flutter then close as her head went limp. He caught her just before she went under the water. He placed her unconscious body against his and made his way towards the shore with her. When he got to the shallows of the water he stood and carried her the rest of the way to shore. Though she was a petite woman her soaked dress along with the weight of his own soaked clothing made the task extremely difficult. When he finally made it to the dock he laid her down and then collapsed next to her, he was physically and emotionally exhausted.

Max rushed over to them with some towels and placed one under Maria's head.

"Medic!" The Captain, being jovial, gave the old call that his friend once answered to when they were in the Navy together.

"What happened to her?"

"She fainted, she was going into shock and then she fainted." The Captain said in puffs as he tried to catch his breath.

"Did she swallow any water?" Max placed two fingers against Maria's neck checking her pulse.

"I don't think so." The Captain looked around at the empty veranda, "Where are the children?"

"I sent them all inside to change out of their wet clothing. Elsa is calling for the doctor and Frau Schmidt is taking care of the little guy." Taking his eyes off his patient for a second, Max looked over at the Captain. The look he gave him sent chills up his spine. "The boy has a nasty cut on his forehead, Georg. It's going to need stitches. And, ummm," Max faltered here.

"What, what else?" The Captain was really starting to worry. There was something that Max wasn't telling him. Something horrible that had happened to Liam.

"His leg, Georg, I don't think it's broken but…." Max stopped his sentence when the Captain began laughing in relief. "What is so funny?"

"His leg was like that before."

"Oh, I didn't know that. Well then, the boy will be fine once he gets his forehead stitched up." Looking back down at is current patient he continued, "His mother on the other hand is concerning me. She's not waking up and we need to get her temperature higher. I'm going in to get more towels."

"I'll get them." Friedrich said. No one had seen him come out of the water after tying up the boat.

"No son," the Captain said, "you've done enough." He reached out an arm and let his son pull him to his feet. Standing in front of the boy he didn't know what to do first. Surprising the young man, he pulled his son into a strong embrace. The Captain knew deep in his heart that this would be the last time he would be hugging the little boy that his first born son once was.

Then he took a step back and shook the hand of the man that his son had just become, "Thank you Friedrich." Although the Captain always knew the day would come when he would have to see his children grow up, he couldn't help but choke back a tear, "Thank you for everything." Not yet ready to let go he added, "Now go inside and change out of those wet clothes before you catch a cold." He ruffled the boy's hair as he walked away blushing at the display of affection his father had just bestowed upon him.

Alone now with the still unconscious Maria, the Captain laid back down beside her. Leaning over her body, he pushed the wet hair off of her forehead. He had seen many a sailor faint under the pressures of combat and fatigue, but normally they woke in a few seconds. It was extremely worrisome that the Fraulein had been out now for at least five minutes. He gently slapped the sides of her face to revive her. There was still no response.

Leaning over her like this, he couldn't help but think that she looked like a sleeping angel. Looking down at her slightly parted lips he was reminded of the ending to the fairy tale that the Fraulein had read to Gretl and Marta last week in English. The prince had woken Snow White with a kiss. Bringing his face even closer to hers he couldn't resist the urge and he pressed his lips gossamer light against the Frauleins. One touch, he told himself, one small touch and his curiosity would be satisfied. Her lips were soft and warm and ever so inviting and though he had meant it to be chaste he couldn't help but dart his tongue in and taste his temptation. Trembling from the force he lifted his own lips from hers, just enough so that they were no longer touching. When he finally opened his eyes he found that much like the prince in the story he had woken his own Snow White. Who was now staring at him with confusion, fear, mixed with what he hoped was a little desire in her eyes.

He watched her face as she went through the motions of coming to and then stilled her movements as the memory of what had happened out in the water came back to her.

"Liam," she cried trying to sit up. The Captain pushed her back down; he still had his upper body leaning over hers not allowing her to move any further.

"He's fine, Maria." He whispered to her and stroked her cheek.

"But, but," She looked around her in panic again, her breath starting to hitch into a faster rhythm.

"Maria, listen to me, he's fine. He got out from under the boat and swam to shore." He left out the part about the stitches for now.

"Swam? Liam doesn't know how to swim." Maria was moving her head side to side, not believing the Captain. Her rapid breathing and fluttering movements was a sign to him that she was still in shock and in danger of fainting again.

He brought his weight down onto her body and stilled her head by threading his hand through her hair. "I've been teaching him how to swim." He reassured her. "I guess I'm a better teacher than I thought. He made it all the way to shore by himself."

Maria shook her head in denial, "I thought," she choked on her sobs, "I thought I had lost him."

"I know." He said on a sigh, "So did I." Maria looked into the Captain's eyes and was startled by what she saw there. The day's events had taken just a harsh a toll on the man as it had her. It was the first time since Bill's death that she didn't feel alone in the harrowing world of parenting.

"You taught my son how to swim?"

"Yes," he lifted himself off of her and let her head go once he saw that she was back under control. Then he shrugged his shoulders, "And he and Lynn have been giving me English lessons." That explained her children's daily disappearances.

"Thank you." Maria tried to stand on her feet, and reached her goal with the Captain's help. Once she was steady he reluctantly let go of her. She hadn't said anything about the kiss and he was waiting for the blow up over it to come.

"Can you do me a favor, though?" She asked him while she straightened out her skirt.

Oh boy, he thought, this is it. "Anything." He said waiting for the assault to begin.

"Will you throw out that damned whistle?"

_I posted this without really checking it over, so I apologize for any mistakes. I normally proof read a little before Ipost, but I was working on it this morning and then kids got up, and well, there goes my free time. _

_Hope you all enjoy it, though I'm sure it's full of mistakes._


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

_She was searching frantically in the murky water. Flailing left and right, her lungs burning from need of oxygen, but she wouldn't surface, she wouldn't give up. She had to find them. Then the water turned pitch black and she couldn't even see her own hand in front of her face. In a flash her father's evil eyes appeared from out of the darkness. She froze in the water as the eyes turned into the man that he once was in life, large and foreboding. The sight of him stopped her heart as he came towards her holding out his arms as if cradling a baby. She closed her eyes for a moment wishing the image to disappear, when she opened them her father was directly in front of her and his arms now held the lifeless forms of her two children._

"_They're mine now!" _

Maria woke gasping for breath. She placed her hand over her heart and felt the fabric of her dressing gown. Then she ran her hands over the bed sheets assuring herself that it had only been a dream. There was no water, no father, and her children….

She jumped out of her bed, ran to the door and out into the hallway. Disregarding the doctors' orders of bed rest for the next two days, she ran toward the nursery corridor to check on them. She couldn't rest until she saw with her own two eyes that they were both safe and sound.

Rounding the corner focused on her mission she hadn't heard the Captain's bedroom door open and ran straight into the unsuspecting man. He caught her by the upper arms before she could fall to the ground from the collision.

"Maria…Fraulein," he corrected himself, "what are you doing out of bed?"

She could tell the Captain was not too pleased with her for not listening to the doctors' orders. After the doctor had said that she needed plenty of rest the Captain had insisted upon her and her children staying at the villa for the next two days. Maria had tried to decline the offer and was faced with the old forbidding and hard Captain that she had met her first day in the foyer. She hadn't had the energy to fight _that_ Captain so she had given in and agreed to stay.

"I wanted to check on the children. I…I" She wasn't about to tell him about the dream that she had. "I always tuck them in for bed; I just wanted to make sure that they were alright."

"Bed?" He checked his watch, "Fraulein, it's barely dinner time. You've only been asleep for forty five minutes."

She stood confused for a moment and then looked out the glass doors that led to the balcony. Had she had taken the time to look before she would have seen that the light of day was that of when daylight and twilight kissed right before dark took over the land.

Raising a shaking hand to her forehead, she ran her fingers through her hair trying to get a grip on herself fighting off the dizziness she felt from her earlier exertions as well as the lasting effects that her nightmare had had on her. The Captain placed a steadying hand on her back and guided her back to her room.

"Back to bed, Fraulein." Though he tried to hide it, his face was a mask of concern as he pushed her through the corridor back to her room. He steadied her again when she tripped on the hem of the long dressing gown she was forced to wear because she wasn't at home and in the privacy of her own bed. Which is where she really wanted to be in the first place.

"I hate these things." She complained, lifting up the hem so she wouldn't trip again, "If I were home I could wear my usual bed clothing and then I would sleep. Maybe I'll just take the children home after dinner…"

"You absolutely will not," He commanded as he pulled her comforter back and guided her onto the bed as if she were a child. "You will stay in this bed, as the doctor told you to do and you will rest."

Refusing to lay down, she sat up in the bed and crossed her arms defiantly over her chest and narrowed her eyes at him.

"Stop treating me like a child."

"Stop acting like one." He mimicked her stare with his own and cocked his jaw at her. God, he was stubborn. "You are not to get out of this bed again, unless it is to use the restroom." He informed her as her stare became even more indignant.

"You are all making a big deal out of nothing. I am fine now and really don't need to be confined to this bed."

"The doctor said that you needed to rest and that is what you are going to do, Fraulein. Are you saying that you are smarter than the doctor?"

"Well…" She didn't finish her thought out loud, but yes, she was far more intelligent than the young doctor who had asked if there was any chance that she might be with child when everyone was still in the room during his initial evaluation. The worst part about the memory, she recalled, was the fact that the doctor hadn't pointed the question to Maria, but to the Captain. This resulted in a loud chuckle from Max and an even more questioning look from the Baroness. After turning a shade of crimson that Maria hadn't known was possible for a human being to reach the Captain had looked upon Maria for the answer.

"Unless it's the second immaculate conception, no." She had answered, prompting Max's chuckle to turn into a full out guffaw.

"She's a pistol, Georg." Max had said between his laughter. That was when the Baroness and Frau Schmidt had kicked both men out of the room giving Maria privacy, although both women stayed with her during her thorough examination.

Sitting on her bed now, the Captain leaned forward, "What are you thinking about?" He asked as he brushed her hair away from her forehead. When had it become second nature for him to touch her, she wondered? A blurry memory entered her mind from earlier in the afternoon when she had come to on the veranda. Her lying on the ground with him bent over her, his lips barely touching hers. But that part of the day was a hazy blur and when she tried to focus on the thought her mind started to spin.

"I'm thinking that that doctor was an idiot."

"And what precisely, Fraulein, do you base that judgment on?" Maria rolled her eyes at him giving him the answer. "Oh I see." The Captain continued, "The Question, as Max calls it. Well Fraulein, it is not so farfetched to believe that a beautiful and attractive woman such as yourself would have numerous suitors who could make that inquiry a reality."

Her eyes grew wide at his suggestive statement while her heart raced with the knowledge that he thought that she was beautiful. Hadn't he wanted her to heed the doctors' advice? How was she supposed to rest now?

"Many men come knocking, Captain, but that doesn't mean that I answer the door."

"Ever?" He questioned her.

"Never."

He leaned in closer to her on the bed. His eyes already asking the question that she knew was stalled on his lips. She leaned her head back against her pillow trying to escape him, but he just kept coming at her until she had no further room to back away. He was so close she could feel the tip of his nose against her own and his breath caressing her face.

There was an electric charge that filled the room and set every synapse in her body firing as she prayed that he didn't ask the question hanging in the air. With the way he was making her feel right now she didn't know what the right answer would be.

"What if I come knocking on your door, Fraulein?" His voice a raspy whisper drawn on jagged breath. "Would you answer?" He brought his face even closer to hers, leaving only a papers width between them. Still he held back waiting for her reply. If he had simply brought his lips down to meet hers she would be gone, she knew it. Hell, she was about to throw that door open herself not waiting for a damn knock and attack him like an excited puppy that hadn't seen its master for days. She needed to put a stop to this before it was too late.

Placing hands against his chest she pushed him slightly away from her.

"I would tell you Captain that you had the wrong door." Though she tried to sound assertive her shaky voice betrayed her, "The Baroness' door is down the hall."

There was a mischievous glint in his eye that sent shivers down her spine, "But I'm not knocking on her door Maria, I'm knocking on yours." Taking her hands away from his chest removing her weak barrier against him, he brought his face alongside hers and caressed her with the tip of his nose along her cheek to her ear and back again. My God, he was making her dizzy.

"And I'm not answering, Captain." She had barely gotten the words out when a long sigh escaped her lips as the Captain nibbled along her earlobe. For a moment she thought she might just faint again.

Her body hadn't felt this way in years, not since she and Bill had last lain as husband and wife, and it's need was prevalent as it screamed "Yes…Yes..", to the Captains advances. While her mind froze on one word, Bill.

"I can't" she freed her hands from his grasp and pushed him back. "I can't." She repeated, reluctantly bringing her eyes up to meet his which were a mixture of desire and hurt.

In a surprise move he placed his lips against her forehead momentarily and then pressed his own forehead against hers, taking a moment to allow them both to catch their breath.

"You're right. I shouldn't be pressuring you tonight. I am sorry, Maria." He said pressing his lips against her forehead one last time before moving back to face her again. At this point she didn't know which man she should trust. The man sitting in front of her with complete sincerity in his voice or the man that had another woman just a few doors down from her own.

"Not just tonight, Captain. Ever. If you want me to stay on as your children's tutor, than you must promise me that…" She was too embarrassed to form the rest of the sentence.

The Captain, however, was calm, cool and collected as he stood from her bed and straightened out the seam of his pants. Focused on brushing off any lint that he may have picked up from her bed he said, "For now I will honor your request, Fraulein, however I am a man that gets what he wants. And right now what I want is two things. One, for you to listen to the good doctors' orders and stay in this bed and rest. If I find you out of this bed again tonight I will get a rope and teach you some intricate knots I learned in my many years in the Navy." Here he paused for dramatic effect and brought his eyes up to meet hers since beginning his speech.

"And the second thing I want is you." Standing at the edge of the bed he leaned over her body and brought his face within inches of hers again. "The next time I knock on that door, Fraulein, you will answer it."


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

"These people will simply not give up!" Georg exclaimed throwing the latest telegram down onto his desk. Where Max retrieved it and read it over.

"It is a great honor, Georg. I mean think about it, you turned down their first offer of commanding a U-boat and they turn around and offer you an entire division instead. That is unheard of!"

"Unheard of as well as not going to happen. There isn't a chance in hell that I would offer up my services to a madman." The Captain got up and paced around his study. He hadn't expected this turn of events when he had declined Hitler's original offer to join the Third Reich's Navy a month ago. He had thought himself pretty suave when he came up with the excuse that he couldn't abandon his family since he was a single parent. Even Hitler could see the man's plight, or so the Captain had thought. Well, apparently he did for now Hitler had offered him a position heading a maritime base and the invitation to move his entire family along with him.

"I don't know, Georg. Turning him down twice isn't going to bode well for you or your family when the Anschluss takes place."

"You mean _if _the Anschluss takes place, don't you Max?" The Captain couldn't keep the disdain out of his voice even if he had tried.

"Come on, old friend, you hear the same talk I do. We both know it's inevitable at this point. Even if the Chancellor wanted to fight, which at this point I'm not sure he does, we don't have the military to beat Hitler. It would be a massacre."

"So we should just lie down and let it happen? Maybe the rest of this country can do that, but I can't. I was taught to fight for my country not hand it over on a silver platter, simply because it's the easier thing to do."

"Then you will be the only one standing on the other side, Georg, and well honestly that scares the hell out of me. I completely understand dying for ones principles, but not when it affects the lives of seven other people. You turn that down, Georg, and the Anschluss takes place, you will have orphaned your children."

"Don't worry Max; I don't plan on being here when the Anschluss takes place." The Captain turned and met his friend's eyes. He was the only man that the Captain would trust with the next bit of information that he was about to give him. He also knew that if the stories that he had heard of Hitler's Third Reich were true, it would put his oldest and dearest friend in grave danger. He pondered for a moment whether or not to take Max into his confidence. Weighing the options the Captain concluded that he owed his friend the truth more than anything. "You remember Hans Bitmeyer," Max nodded his head, "When our Navy disbanded he moved to England. Eventually he was commissioned by their Royal Navy and has made it all the way up to Admiral. He's offered me a position in their Navy and well, I think I just may accept it."

"You do that and you'd only be jumping from one frying pan into another! What if war breaks out, Georg, have you thought of that? What of your children then?"

The Captain stopped his pacing and sat heavily on his couch. Running his fingers through his hair the words that his friend had just spoken to him danced around in his head. When he was first propositioned for the position he had been all for it, but that had been when he would have done anything to run away from his life. Now, he wasn't sure which direction he should take. So much had changed within him in such little time.

"I said I was thinking about it Max. I haven't made up my mind yet. But one thing I do know for sure is that I will not stay in this country and watch it crumble under a maniac's control. I still have faith in our people though; I'm not yet ready to believe that the Anschluss will take place. I'm giving it a few months to see what will happen."

"And what does Elsa have to say about your plans?" Max questioned him.

"I haven't discussed any of this with her, Max. And I would appreciate it if you didn't say anything to her either."

"And what of your young Fraulein? Have you discussed any of this with her?" Georg shot Max a look that would take any unsuspecting man down, but not his friend. He knew him too well. Getting up from his seat, the Captain started pacing again.

"As I told you before, Max, she is my children's English tutor and nothing else."

Max let out one of his infamous chuckles. The one that let the Captain know that Max knew that he was full of shit, "You mean, _yet_, Georg. You forget old man that I knew you way back when, I know that look in your eye. You are in hot pursuit."

Rolling his eyes at Max, the Captain took a long sip of Brandy. He wasn't so much annoyed at Max for making the statement as he was in the knowledge that his friend spoke the truth.

"I'm not going to lie to you Max, I am attracted to her."

"For goodness sakes, Georg, a monk would be attracted to her. That's not the point."

"Well what is your point then Max."

"You're different, Georg. There's definitely something different about you. I noticed it when you came to Vienna, I just didn't know what it was until today. Or the cause of it."

"Oh please Max enlighten me with your profound insight into my psyche. What is it that you think you see?"

"I see you Georg, or rather, the old you. For the first time since Agathe's death you seem alive again."

"Max, don't be ridiculous I simply want to take the woman to bed. Don't read anymore into it than there is." Even as he said the words he knew that he was lying and that perhaps Max had seen something that he himself refused to recognize.

"I wonder what Elsa would think of your plans, Georg."

The Captain shot Max another dangerous look. There weren't too many people in the world that would have such a frank discussion with the man, unfortunately for the Captain Max was one of them.

"Elsa and I aren't committed yet, Max. We have an open relationship."

"And yet somehow, I don't think we would be having this discussion if she was in the room with us." The Captain clenched one hand around his brandy glass and the other at his side to keep from grabbing his old friend around the throat. Leave it to Max to make the end of a horrible day even worse. As if on cue they heard the click clack of Elsa's shoes in the foyer as she approached the Captain's study, he turned to Max to tell him to zip his mouth on the subject. But he didn't have to say a word as Max raised his eyebrows at him and then hummed under his breath.

"hmmm-hmmm I didn't think so."

The Captain made his third trip of the night down the nursery hall. Part of the doctors' orders for Liam had been to wake the boy every three hours in case of concussion. Each trip that he had made so far he had found the Fraulein, yet again, out of bed. The woman was thoroughly exasperating him. She just simply couldn't follow orders.

He was surprised when he approached the boy's room that he didn't find her again outside the door. Stepping inside he glanced over at his two sleeping sons in their beds. Kurt curled up in a ball and Friedrich sprawled across his own bed. Moving over to Liam's bed in the dark he had yet another surprise waiting for him. Apparently since his last visit to the room, Lynn had joined her brother in bed. The two looked completely hysterical with Lynn sprawled out, arms above her head and legs stretched out wide. Liam was on his stomach, with his butt sticking high up in the air, curled in a ball snug tightly in the crook of his sisters' arm, which rested on the crown of her brothers head.

"We think that's how they slept in the womb." This time it was the Captain that jumped at Maria's unexpected arrival. "When they were infants, no matter where Bill and I placed them in the crib. No matter how far apart, we would always come back to find them in that position."

The Captain stood silent for a moment. For the first time ever Maria had shared something intimate with him, as if she were confiding in a friend, making him feel guiltier for his monstrous actions towards her earlier in the evening. He had lost control then, letting his hormones lead the way before his manners and then his pride had stepped in when she had refused him. Yet here she was talking to him as if nothing had changed at all.

"What are you doing out of bed again?" He whispered to her.

Lifting the hem of her long dressing gown up she answered back, "I told you I can't sleep in these things." He rolled his eyes at her then turned his attention to the sleeping children shaking Liam's shoulder to wake the boy.

Since the birth of Louisa the Captain had been convinced that no other human being on earth could wake up crankier. Until he had to wake up Liam who was breathing fire at him and shooting him a look with cold and pissed off eyes. Rolling onto his back he swatted at the Captain's hand then murmured sleepily, "Leave me alone."

"He has a bit of a temper." Maria whispered.

"No kidding, I wonder where he gets that from," was the Captains sarcastic remark. The easy banter between them and the shared smile at his joke softened his heart a little. Maybe his actions earlier could be forgotten, he thought, and they could go back to being…what? He questioned himself. Friends? Were they friends before?

The boy rolled back over and went to sleep. Stepping out of the room, the Captain watched Maria go over and pull the blanket, first around Kurt who had kicked it off in his sleep and then pulled Friedrich's up to his neck, placing her hand momentarily on Friedrich's forehead.

"Is Friedrich alright?" The Captain questioned her when she finally took her exit from the room.

"He wasn't feeling well earlier today and then he was in the water the longest. I just wanted to make sure he didn't have a fever." They started to walk down the hall, "He doesn't, but I do think he's coming down with a cold. I'll have to keep an eye on him tomorrow." On cue her own body was over taken with three consecutive sneezes so powerful they made her knees weak. For the second time that evening she lost her balance and he had to catch her from falling to the ground. It was obvious to the Captain that the young doctors' orders for Maria hadn't been far off at all. She needed the rest more than she was willing to acknowledge.

"I'll keep an eye on him. Tomorrow, you are to stay in bed, remember?"

"Oh." She waved her hand in the air dismissing his statement, "that's just silly. I'm fine and tomorrow I'll be even better."

People in his life had told him before that he was stubborn. He had never known exactly what they had meant until he had to deal with this Fraulein. Deciding it best to catch whatever remainder of sleep he could get for the night, he let her declaration go for now as he pushed her towards her room. He would fight that fight with her tomorrow.

Reaching their destination he shoved her towards her bed. His own body was tired and he was becoming irritable from the lack of sleep, manners were on holiday for now.

"Owww," She complained from his rough handling as she climbed in, "You don't have to be so rough, you know." She settled into the bed and immediately started pulling at the collar of her dressing gown. "See what I mean, this thing chokes me, I'm never going to get sleep with this thing on."

Rubbing the knot that had formed between his eyes the Captain slumped his shoulders. He had never wanted to kill a woman before but right now he could easily finish off what the dressing gown hadn't done.

"You're worse than a child, I swear on all that is holy, you are worse than a child!" Turning to leave the room he shot over his shoulder, "I'll be right back."

"You're not getting the rope are you?" The innocence that she poured into the sarcastic remark struck his last nerve. He let out a loud growl as he made his way towards his room, cursing under his breath the entire time. Finding what he sought quickly, he by passed his bed and gave it a long look. He just wanted to sink into it and forget this entire day. The episode in the lake, having to hold Liam on his lap while he got ten stitches in his forehead, seeing the concern on the doctors face when he exited Maria's room, his conversation with Max, and lastly and most importantly, his actions with Maria in her room before dinner. He wanted to lay his head on his pillow and erase every last one from his memory. That was his only wish, but he couldn't have it because the Fraulein couldn't sleep.

Walking back into her room he threw the article of clothing that he had just retrieved from his room at her head. He watched her face turn from shock, to wonder, to happiness as she unfolded and then held up one of his night dress shirts.

"Will you sleep now?" He more barked the question at her than asked. Hugging the garment to her chest she smiled and nodded. His heart skipped a beat at her gesture. Recapturing the breath that she has just stolen from him he walked back out the door, "Just make sure no one sees you in it."

Returning to his room a thought crept into his mind. Maybe Max wasn't crazy. Maybe there was something more in his feeling towards the Fraulein than a physical attraction. He stopped himself before he let his mind get too involved in the thought. Even if there was she had made it plain and clear that she wanted no part of it. Combine that with the fact that he had Elsa here as his guest and the reality began to set in that it didn't matter how he felt. His life was already set to go in one direction, it was high time that he set his sails for that course and stop going against the wind. Now if he could only get his _unconscious _mind in that direction he would be alright. As it were his dreams were not filled that night with Elsa and their future, but of Maria, sweet, innocent, passionate Maria.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

"Who is that?" Maria exclaimed as she walked out on the terrace three days after the accident. The Captain didn't even pick his head up from the newspaper, trying his hardest to not let her overzealous question get under his skin. He had dreaded this moment from the minute that Elsa's personal gardener had arrived at the house. He hadn't cared that Elsa had fawned over the well-built young man, suspecting that he may be her boy toy. He should have known when Elsa had built the gardeners accolades up to that of a God of dirt and foliage that something was amiss. She had claimed that only her gardener could tame the English maze and have it ready for the dinner party that she was planning to host at the villa in two weeks' time. Funny thing was the Captain didn't think that the garden was the only thing the young man was able to tame, and really he didn't care, as long as the other was Elsa and _not_ his Fraulein.

"That is Elsa's personal gardener." The Captain finally answered her question.

"Oh." She replied as she continued to stare at the young man. It had been a long time since Maria's body stirred for human contact. However, since coming to stay at Aigen a need had been awakened in her that she had thought had been buried along with Bill. She wasn't sure exactly what had awoken the beast, but now that it had been let out of its cage its hunger craved to be satisfied. That wasn't precisely true she did know who let the beast out, she just wasn't sure how he had succeeded where so many before him had failed.

Watching the shirtless gardener with his rippling muscles play against his golden skin did nothing to abate these newly rekindled feelings. She was starting to question the sanctity as well as the serenity of the celibate life she had been leading. Would it be so horrible to take a man into her bed? After all, she was a woman wasn't she? A woman with needs just the same as any other, what harm could there be in taking on a lover? As long as the relationship stayed merely on the physical level she truly wouldn't be cheating on Bill. Keeping her eyes locked on the well-built gardener, who was as close to a Greek God as she had ever seen in person, she realized she might just have to rethink some of her life choices.

"I don't know about you, Georg, but I'm beginning to get a complex." Leave it to Max to add fuel to the fire, the Captain thought. "First Elsa, now our Fraulein Maria can't take her eyes off the man. I'll have to find out what his secret is." The impact of the statement was lost on Maria, who had heard none of what Max had said being too entranced in the gardener.

The Captain slammed his paper down on the table, "Is there something you wanted, Fraulein?" He asked ignoring Max's statement as he shot him a dark look across the table.

Pulled from her trance by the Captain's abrupt question Maria began to stammer, "Oh yes…that's right…Lunch is ready to be served."

"Wonderful," he said as he stood from his seat and faced her for the first time since she had come out on the terrace. "Let's eat." He sneered through his clenched teeth focusing his dark and dangerous eyes on her. For a moment Maria wondered if she had done something to bring his mood on or if it had something to do with the news in the paper. Though Maria was a genius and could rival all men who fell on her intelligence level, in this matter she chose to be ignorant, so she settled on the paper as the cause. Even as he blocked her last attempted look at the gardener before they went into the house, she still had no clue.

Maria led the way back into the house with Max and the Captain behind her. Max simply couldn't let this opportunity go as he rubbed it in to the Captain whispering so that Maria couldn't hear him.

"And here I thought that spending the summer in the country was going to be boring, Georg. It's got drama, romance, jealousy, two different love triangles…"

"It's going to have a murder soon, if you don't shut up Max!"

"I can't help it my friend, this is better than any play ever written. You entertain me!"

Their conversation ended as they entered the dining room. All the children and Elsa were already seated. The Captain walked over, not forgetting his manners and the reason that Elsa was there, and kissed her forehead.

"Hello darling," he said to Elsa. "I trust that you slept well?" Although this was the midday meal, after the gardeners' late arrival last night Elsa had retired to bed and exclaimed that she was completely exhausted and wouldn't be joining the family in the morning for breakfast. Max had had an early morning meeting in Salzburg with some prospective producers for the latest play he was attempting to write, so it had just been the Captain and the Fraulein with all the children that morning for breakfast. It was the first time since the arrival of Max and Elsa that they had all been alone together and they had thoroughly enjoyed it. The children had made jokes about how the Captain had reacted when Maria's Aunt in law had arrived the morning after the accident. When Lynn had contacted her the day before, the Captain had no idea that Maria's Aunt was the Reverend Mother of Nonnberg Abbey.

When Frau Schmidt presented her to the Captain at the breakfast table the morning after the accident, with all the children, Max and Elsa present, the Captain had nearly fainted at the sight.

"Father, you turned white as a ghost!" Brigitta had commented that morning as they had all recalled the scene for Maria.

"Well, you know," the Captain had fixed his eyes on Maria, "when one has an Aunt in law who is the Reverend Mother of Nonnberg Abbey, you would think that one would let other people know that in advance."

"I thought you knew." Had been Maria's innocent response.

"NO! You didn't!" Though the children had no idea why the fact that Maria's Aunt being the Reverend Mother bothered the Captain so much, Maria did. Especially after what happened when her Aunt was brought up to her room that morning.

The Captain and Frau Schmidt had brought Aunt Adelaide to Maria's room and though she had still been asleep when they arrived she had slightly awoken from her slumber when Frau Schmidt had come to fix her pillow.

"She didn't sleep well, last night, so it's no surprise to me that she is still out." She had heard the Captain say to her Aunt.

"Oh Captain," Frau Schmidt had exclaimed when she raised the blanket across Maria's back, "she's wearing one of your night shirts." The moment the words had been out of the housekeepers' mouth she knew the woman had regretted her exclamation. Through the crack of her eyes Maria saw Frau Schmidt's hand fly to her mouth as if she wished she could shove the words back in.

Meanwhile, with the Captain standing behind her, Maria could only imagine the look on his face as he tripped over his words of denial, "What…no..no that's not mine…I mean yes…ah….she ahhh..well what happened was…I…I…loaned it to her…when I was with her last night….I don't mean with her…when I…"

"Young man," Aunt Adelaide interrupted the Captain's pathetic speech, "you're going to give yourself a stroke. I know Maria is very peculiar about her sleep attire. Always has been even as a child."

Maria hadn't been able to contain her laugh this morning at breakfast reminiscing with the children though she didn't share_ that _memory with them. Aunt Adelaide may just be the only person on earth that could bring the Captain to his knees.

Returning her attention to the meal at hand, Maria began cutting the meat on Gretl, then Marta's, then Lynn's, then Liam's plates, much to Liam's and the Captain's annoyance.

"Fraulein, you are hovering, again, sit down and leave the boy alone." For the second time in as many days the Captain chastised her for taking too many pains with her son. Though their routine had went back to normal after her and her children returned to the cottage with the trio returning every morning as before, for breakfast and then the lessons, she just couldn't ease her nerves from the accident. She had always been aware of her sons' weaknesses, had always accepted them and encouraged him to go beyond his limitations from his disability. Though now, with the knowledge that one little slip, fall, mistake, could suddenly take him away from her she wanted to throw a protective cloak around him and all of the children shielding them from any harm. Sharp knives were included in her new found worries. If she had thought that the older children would let her, she would have cut their meat as well. But when it came to her being overly protective of Liam, the Captain held a special annoyance towards her. Maybe she was being too overt in her handling of Liam, but she wasn't about to stop on the Captains account.

"I'm simply cutting his meat, Captain."

"He can do it himself, sit down and leave him alone." The table grew quiet at the exchange between the only two parents at the table. The children, Max and Elsa had become accustomed to the verbal exchanges between Maria and the Captain. Even after only three days in the house the other two adults at the table knew when to pipe in with their own opinions and when to hold their tongues. Now was a hold your tongue time as the Captain and Maria squared off.

Maria knew she was going slightly overboard with her handling of Liam and if her son had asked her to back off and give him freedom she might consider it. However, it was the fact that the Captain had given her an order that got her back up. She wasn't accustomed to people telling her what to do, especially when it came to raising her children.

"The knife is sharp, Captain, lord knows he already has ten stitches in his head, he doesn't need any more in his hands." She shot the low blow at him, knowing exactly the damage it would do. She knew the Captain felt terrible for what had happened to Liam, though Maria knew that it was an accident and not at all the Captain's fault, he blamed himself and she used it to her advantage.

"You're emasculating the boy. Leave him alone." He wasn't about to let her get the last word in.

"I am not!" She vehemently denied as she continued to cut her son's meat. She heard the Captain's fork clink against his plate signifying his agitation at her lack of following his orders. Their gazes locked over Liam's head, continuing the now silent battle as they each thought of the next line to one up the other.

Sensing that the next war of the worlds was about to break out Elsa jumped in to ease the tension.

"Georg, darling, she's just being a good mother, there's nothing wrong with that."

"Yes, Georg, my dear mother used to cut my meat for me and look how I turned out." Max threw in.

The Captain threw his fork completely down and then rapidly waved his hand toward Max, "Do you see what you're turning him into! Fraulein, I beg of you! The world already has one Max Dettwieler, we can't afford another one!"

At the Captain's declaration the table broke out in laughter. Even Liam and Lynn who had complained to her the night before that they didn't like the way the Captain and she argued over every little thing —(this coming from the two of them after they had gotten into a fist fight over who was going to take the first bath was an eye opener) -laughed at the Captain's joke.

"Mother, really, I can do it myself." Letting out a sigh of defeat, Maria kissed the top of Liam's head then took her seat.

The rest of the meal continued with banter between Elsa, the Captain and Max about Max's play and how his morning went with the producers, while Maria chatted with the children. Every once in a while the two heads of the table would catch the others eye and the war raged on in glances. For the life of her Maria couldn't figure the man out. One minute he was the most altruistic gentleman and then the next he was a raging bull of a man. It also didn't help matters that neither one had brought up what had happened in her room the evening of the accident leaving the air between them thick with tension. So the last three days had been filled with moments of battle between them, but when they weren't quibbling over some insignificant thing their eyes would meet and the tension would turn into radiant heat that stole the air from her lungs.

"Fraulein," the Captain interrupted her thoughts, "What is on the agenda for today?" This was the first time since his company had arrived that the Captain asked her what her plans for the children were for the afternoon. He had been spending his time entertaining his guests; she had assumed he would be doing the same today as well.

"Oh, today we are going to the abbey." She announced, "The Noonday club is having their flower festival there so I thought that I would take the children to see it."

The Captain sat with is fork halfway to his mouth; from the look on his face she could tell that he wasn't pleased with her plans. Glancing over to the three boys that sat next to one another, who incidentally held the same expression on their faces as the Captain did, the Captain put is fork down then cleared his throat.

"Flowers, Fraulein? I don't think that the boys will like that too much."

"Well, yes, but we take turns, sir. Yesterday we did something that they wanted to do, so today we are going to the flower festival."

The Captain glanced over at the boys pathetic faces that pleaded with the man to get them out of this. Traitors, Maria thought.

"How about instead you take the girls to the festival and I'll take the boys to do something else." He thought for a moment, and then he turned to the boys, "Would you three like to go horseback riding?"

Three little heads began earnestly nodding.

"Horseback riding?" Maria exclaimed, "Absolutely not!"

"Why not?" The Captain questioned her back.

"Ding-ding, round two." Max leaned over and whispered to Liesl. Maria and the Captain both shot him a warning look.

"Why not? " Maria nodded her head in Liam's direction. "Captain…" She let her reason hang in the air. She wasn't about to embarrass her son at the table, but damn the man for bringing up something that was entirely too dangerous for Liam to do. He didn't have the balance or the strength to keep himself on a horse.

The Captain rolled his eyes at her then stood from the table, "Excuse us for a moment would you all? Fraulein, out in the hallway, now." Did he just give her another order? If they had been alone in the room she would have thrown her glass at his head. Acting on their own accord her legs followed his command and she met outside the dining room doors.

"You need to stop this nonsense." He whisper shouted into her face.

"Nonsense? What nonsense? I just think…"

"Stop coddling him! You're always hovering and doing things for him that he can do for himself."

"That isn't true, some things he simply can't do himself."

"Really? You told me that you tried to teach him to swim, but Liam told me that he didn't know how to swim because you were too afraid to let him try. And look, after only a week of lessons, look what he can do."

"He's not your son; you have no idea what it's like, to worry over every little thing…"

"No, he's not my son, and yet every time I see him go up those stairs my heart goes into my throat waiting to see if he's going to fall or make it to the top. But unlike you, I let him do it himself instead of picking him up half way there." That was true, she couldn't deny it. Since the accident she had been overly cautious with him on the stairs, but what was she to do? Watch him get hurt again?

"But Captain, horseback riding? What if he falls from the horse? He doesn't have the balance."

"I'll be right there with him, Maria." It had become custom for him to call her by her first name when no one else was around. She, however, always stuck with his formal title, much to his frustration. "Don't you trust me? Do you honestly think I would let something happen to him?"

Backed into the corner by his questions, Maria stammered for her answer. It wasn't that she didn't trust _him, _when it came to her children she didn't trust anyone. She had been alone in the parenting world since the children were only two. Every cough, sniffle, scrap, and tear had been hers to care for; she didn't know if anyone else was fit enough for the job.

When her answer didn't come soon enough, he stopped his pacing and stood directly in front of her. She could see the anger and hurt in his eyes.

"I'm not sure you are aware of this, Maria, but I do have seven children of my own that I have somehow managed to keep alive all these years. I don't think me spending one afternoon with your son will be the end of him."

In the end she gave in. She and the girls were heading off to the Abbey and the Captain was taking the boys horseback riding with the promise to take all the girls on the next day. He had even talked her into letting him and the boys take her car and she was to take his because it held more people comfortably.

"You just want to drive my car." She said to him in the foyer as they gathered all their things together for the day's outings.

"It's a really nice car."

"It was Bill's graduation present." His head snapped up from his chores at her confession.

"Oh, I didn't know that. If you don't want…"

"It's fine, just drive her nice, she's old, but there's a lot of memories in her." Memories that she wasn't about to share with him, but it may just be where her children were conceived.

"You're worried about the way I'm going to drive her? Fraulein, I've seen the way you drive. I don't think I could do much worse."

They walked out onto the drive, all of the children had gathered into their perspective cars. Maria rattled off another hundred instructions to the Captain. Watch Liam with this, don't do that, make sure Friedrich takes his cough medicine at the right time. Don't let Kurt do that…his head was getting dizzy from saying, "Yes and all right," over and over again.

Standing behind the two parked cars about to go their separate ways he handed over her day bag.

"You'll be back by three, correct." She asked him for the third time.

"Yes, I'll have them back by three."

"I'll see you then, then."

What happened next remains a mystery to her, but it seemed so natural. One minute they were talking and sizing up the rest of the days plans, and the next minute they were leaning into the other and sharing a goodbye kiss. It was the quickest of touches, over before it even started, and yet she tingled from the contact. Pulling away, eyes wide with shock she covered her mouth with her hand as she let out a gasp of horror from their faux pas. Meeting the Captain's eyes she saw humor and adoration as his lips slowly formed into a sly smile.

"I'll see you then, Maria."

_I jumped around a little in this chapter. I hope that it wasn't too confusing. Please let me know what you think._


	15. Chapter 15

Maria glanced around the courtyard of the Abbey, taking in all the different colors. Since her first year in Salzburg she had loved this event. It was the only day of the year that the drab, gray, and cold abbey courtyard lit up with life and festivity.

The flowers were arranged from one end of the yard to the other, not only were they pleasing to look at, but the mixture of the fragrances were heavenly as she weaved her way around the displays. Some ladies had brought their prized tulips, others their roses, while still others were more creative and had created mosaics out of their flowers. It amazed Maria how these woman could make art out of simple flowers and stems. Maria envied them. She could solve any algebraic formula in her head, she could take apart and fix any mechanical mechanism, and science hadn't held any mystery to her since she was five, she could write, play and sing any song, but she couldn't draw a stick figure. Art was her Achilles heel.

Stopping to admire a mosaic of the Austrian flag made out of Edelweiss and red roses, Maria sensed the presence of the one that she had been avoiding all afternoon. Since their arrival to the abbey, Maria had spoken to Sister Anna, Sister Mary Margaret, and she and Sister Margaretta had taken the von Trapp girls on tour of the Abbey with Lynn acting as guide as the two women chatted. She would have loved to have been able to tell her best friend what had happened between her and the Captain in the driveway, but there were too many ears that could have overheard. Especially the two older sets of ears belonging to Liesl and Louisa. Both girls had been doing a lot of whispering between each other and sideways glancing in Maria's direction all afternoon. She wondered if one or the both of them hadn't been witness to the transgression.

"You're avoiding me, my dear." Aunt Adelaide said as she stopped alongside Maria.

It was true, she had been avoiding her. One thing about having an Aunt for a nun, you just couldn't lie to them. So instead, Maria skirted the statement with obvious observations.

"Isn't it a beautiful day?" She asked her Aunt who was now giving her the look of death, as she and Bill once called it.

After Maria's parents had died, Vilhelm was named her guardian. When she was thirteen and Bill was fifteen, Aunt Adelaide had been their "governess" when Vilhelm was out of town on business. Which was most of the time, be it for business or guilt.

Before Bill's official diagnosis, Vilhelm had been much like Captain von Trapp in his treatment of his son. Between Gertrude's death and what had happened with Maria's parents she really couldn't blame the man for wanting to run away. She herself had tried to escape from reality by locking herself up in her own mind those subsequent months that had followed after that most horrific night. If it hadn't been for Bill and Aunt Adelaide she might still be there, lost in that web of insanity that her father had woven.

Unfortunately for Vilhelm it had taken something much stronger for him to see the error of his ways. Thankfully he was able to rectify some of the wrong he had done to his son before it was too late. It had meant so much to Bill those last years of his life to get to know the man inside his father. In a way Maria had envied Bill for that, for she _had_ gotten to know the man that her own father was before the bullet took his life. Unlike Vilhelm who had a hard shell on the outside, but a soft and caring heart on the inside, her father was more rotten to the core than one could ever have imagined.

"First you avoid me, and then you ignore me. You aren't yourself today, Maria." Aunt Adelaide brought Maria back from her dark thoughts.

"I'm sorry, Aunt Addy, I was just…"

"I asked you where my grandnephew is." Aunt Addy interrupted Maria before she could come up with some excuse as to where her thoughts had been. Knowing her Aunt the way she did, or rather her Aunt knowing Maria the way she did, the woman didn't need any excuse she already knew where her memories had wondered to.

"The Captain took him and the other two boy's horseback riding. He didn't think that they would enjoy the flowers too much."

"No, I don't suppose they would have." Aunt Adelaide continued on to the next display, Maria following in her wake. They both glanced over at the group of six girls who had paired themselves off into groups of two. Liesl and Louisa were chatting with an elegant lady that Maria assumed must be a friend of the family. Brigitta and Lynn were off to the side whispering to each other and giggling about some pre-adolescent joke as they often did, while Marta and Gretl were charming an older set of women.

"You seemed to have tamed the wild beast." Aunt Adelaide said. Maria thought that her Aunt had been talking about the von Trapp children after the entire fiasco with the last governess that she had sent to the house.

"The children were never wild, Aunt Adelaide. They just needed their father's attention."

"Precisely, it is that beast that I am referring to, not the children Maria." Her Aunt turned to her with a mischievous look in her eye.

"I didn't tame anything, Aunt Addy. I simply showed him the error of his ways."

"Right, and then when you were done, you went to bed in his night shirt."

Maria stood with her mouth hanging agape. Did her Aunt just accuse her of doing what she thought she accused her of doing?

"Aunt Adelaide! I told you he loaned it to me. For goodness sakes, just what are you suggesting?"

"Maria, Maria…" her Aunt soothed her as she guided her towards the privacy of the abbey garden. "I'm not suggesting anything my dear." The older woman took a seat on the wooden bench that sat along one of the stone walls of the garden. Straightening out the long skirt of her heavy robes, she looked up to Maria with an innocent smile.

"I was merely hoping that the good Captain was able to get you to let go of some of your defenses." Her Aunt let out a long sigh, "Oh well, I'm not giving up yet."

Maria's mouth couldn't get any wider as she choked down a surprised cough from her Aunts admission.

"Oh my Go…" Maria stopped the lord's name from exiting her mouth. One couldn't take the lords name in vain in front of her Aunt without getting a slap across the head. Maria knew this from experience. "Goodness, Aunt Adelaide!" She finished her exclamation.

"Maria, it is I who leads the life of a Nun, not you my dear. I think you have forgotten that. I had thought that the Captain might just be the man who would make you recall it for yourself."

Maria's blush burned her cheeks into a deep crimson. She couldn't believe the words that were coming from her Aunts mouth. Apparently in her Aunts world, it was a mortal sin to take the lords name in vain, but fornication was A-okay. If she wasn't so embarrassed by what her Aunt had just said, she would have searched the woman's eyes to see if she had been possessed by the devil. As it were she kept her eyes cast to the ground.

"Even if I wanted to, how did you put it…let my defenses go, I don't think the Captain would be the right man for that."

"And why not?" Her Aunt questioned her, intrigue entering her eyes at Maria's statement.

"Because he has…" What did he have, Maria questioned herself. A girlfriend, a fiancée, the Captain had never really named his relationship with the Baroness to any of them. "He has a..a… Baroness." Maria finished lamely, flopping herself alongside her Aunt on the bench.

"Oh, you mean the blonde woman who was at the house the other day?" Maria nodded her head and told her Aunt what little she knew about Baroness Schraeder.

"Do you like her?" Her Aunt questioned at the end of Maria's speech.

"I guess, I don't really know her, but she seems nice." What she really wanted to say was that she _wanted_ to like her. That she_ should_ like her, the woman had done nothing to Maria for her _not_ to like her. And yet something inside of her seethed whenever she saw the Baroness and the Captain talking privately, and when he walked next to her and placed his hand along the Baroness's lower back Maria would grit her teeth against an unknown source of pain.

Maria got up from the bench, "I really need to check on the girls." Her Aunt got up and quickly followed behind her. Maria threw a questioning glance over her shoulder to her Aunt. She had never seen her Aunt act in such a way. She looked like a salivating dog going after its favorite bone, and Maria was the bone.

"But you _have_ thought of it, haven't you?" Aunt Adelaide asked before they reached the archway from the garden into the courtyard. Just a few more steps and Maria would have a clean getaway.

"Thought of what?" Maria dared to ask, afraid of what her Aunt's answer was going to be.

"Of you and the Captain, of course." That was precisely the answer she was hoping against.

Maria stopped short of entering the courtyard, turning and facing her Aunt, she saw that the woman looked like she was about to open the best Christmas present ever given. Feeling the largest headache ever known to man coming on, Maria pinched the bridge of her nose between her two eyes to relieve some of the tension there.

"I am not having this conversation with you, Aunt Adelaide." She said.

Her Aunt clasped her hands together, "You HAVE thought of it."

"Okay- I don't know who you are, but when my Aunt gets back here, could you tell her I'd like to speak with her."

"Oh come now Maria, you have two children, and you forget that I stayed with you and Bill after you were married. I know you aren't this innocent flower you pretend to be."

"Seriously, what have you done with my Aunt?"

Maria needed to find the children in a hurry. She was going to need them in a minute to pick her body up off the ground if her Aunt continued this conversation. She was thoroughly convinced that even if she jumped into a pool of ice cubes her cheeks would still burn hot from her Aunts unorthodox avowals. Though she wasn't sure what bothered her more, the fact that her Aunt was positively salivating at the thought of Maria being interested in the Captain or the fact that her Aunt was positively correct in her assumptions. Dammit…she argued with herself…she was NOT interested in the Captain.

"Maria, what are you hiding from? There's nothing wrong with being attracted to a man. It's human nature…"

"Have you forgotten that I am the widow of your nephew?"

"No, of course not. I'm not telling you to take him into your bed, I'm simply saying it would be nice to see you in a relationship with someone." Her Aunt laid a hand on Maria's shoulder. "Bill's been gone for nearly eight years. It's time that you move on and let him go." Moving her hand up to caress Maria's cheek, forcing the girl to make eye contact with her she ended, "Bill would have wanted you to move on Maria."

"Move on to what, Aunt Adelaide? I'm leaving Austria in less than two months. What kind of relationship would that be? A summer fling?" She walked away from her Aunt, who was shaking her head at the continued stubbornness of her young niece. Maria had always been the queen of getting the last word in, but for once her Aunt wasn't going to let her. Walking up alongside her she put her arm around the girl and matched her trot toward the group of six girls.

"Well, it'd be a good start, Maria."

_There was to be more to this chapter, but I simply haven't had the time to write. Hope you all enjoy it and I'll try to get the next chapter up a little faster._

_Please let me know what you think. I'm sorry for these little filler chapters, but they are important to the story even if they keep the two main characters apart more than you'd all like._

_Read and review! The reviews really help!_


	16. Chapter 16

_I just realized in re-reading the last chapter that I apparently changed the name of the Reverend Mother from the first few chapters. Originally I had named her Adelaine, but this last chapter I spelled it Adelaide. I like Adelaide better so we're going to stick with that. Sorry for the mishap._

Maria walked back into the foyer of the house from the veranda. It was half past three when she had returned home from her uncomfortable outing to the abbey. Heading back to the salon where the girls were animatedly telling Max about their day, Maria wondered why the Captain had yet to return with the boys from his outing. She had checked all the rooms on the bottom floor and the veranda. They were nowhere to be seen. Even though her car wasn't in the driveway when she arrived, she had hoped that maybe the Captain had parked it in the cottage drive.

Checking the clock on the wall she again noted the time. Five minutes to four. He was an hour late from the time he said they would be home. Worry unraveled in her belly. It wasn't like the Captain to go against his word. Something must have happened. Images played with her mind making her nerves worse. Liam falling from the horse, Kurt not paying attention and getting run over by a horse, Friedrich's horse bucking him off, oh lord she needed to take her mind off her worries.

Hearing a door open and close soundly behind her she whirled around in hopes of seeing the missing foursome. Her heart sank when she realized that it was just the Baroness coming in through the veranda doors. That's odd, Maria thought, she wasn't out there when she had just checked a minute ago. She wondered where on earth she could have come from. Meeting Maria's eyes from across the hall, she watched a slight blush cross the distinguished woman's face. Taking in her appearance, Maria noted that she looked different. She had on the same clothes as this afternoon, but they looked disheveled and her hair which was normally pinned up and teased into perfection was starting to unravel in places.

"Oh, hello Fraulein Maria." The Baroness greeted her, though she had tried to make the greeting sound friendly, Maria could still sense the surprised tone in the woman's voice.

"Baroness." Maria returned her greeting with a head nod. She would have asked her how her afternoon had been, but the Baroness quickly made her way to the stairs and was half way up before she could utter the one word.

"It was such a lovely day today, wasn't it?" The Baroness stated in a wistful tone as she continued her quick ascension up the staircase. "I think I'll have a shower and a nap before dinner." She disappeared down the guest hall with her final word.

Scratching her head, Maria entered the salon leaving the Baronesses strange behavior behind her and refocused on the worry that still ached in her gut. Where in the world was the Captain with the boys?

"Max, did the Captain happen to call and say he was going to be late?"

"Not that I'm aware of, why is something wrong?"

"He said he'd be back by three. It's not like him to be late." She stated the worry evident in her voice.

"Hah," Max retorted, "you don't know Georg very well then. He was always late when we were in basic training. That's why he's a pro at push-ups. He must have done a hundred a day with all his tardiness." Max ran a reassuring hand down Maria's arm and gave her a wink of his eye. In the past few days Maria had truly begun to like this man. He was sweet, charming, and Maria hoped one day would be a good friend to her. Right now she truly needed a good friend.

Standing on her tiptoes she reached up and gave him a small peck on the cheek, "Thank you, Max."

"Oh my," he blushed, "whatever for?"

"For being you."

"Well, there's a lot more to me than this," he joked, "I can't wait to see what I'll get when you meet the rest of me." He wagged his eyebrows at her making a giggle erupt from her throat. Giving his shoulder a little push she blushed from his tease.

"Father!" Gretl shouted bringing both the adults attention to the doorway. The Captain stood taking in the scene going on in the middle of the room. His icy cold stare was fixed on Max; a shutter ran down Maria's spine for her new friend.

"Oh thank goodness Captain, you're home. I was so worried."

"Yes, I can just feel apprehension oozing from you, Fraulein." Was his snide remark. His eyes never wavering from Max.

"You had her in a tizzy, Georg," Max stated, while placing his arm around Maria's midsection pulling her closer to his side. The Captain's eyes narrowed and his jaw clenched. Jeez, what was his problem, Maria wondered. "It was all I could do to ease her worries."

"How gentlemanly of you, Max." The Captains words dripped with disdain. However, Maria didn't dwell on it as she saw the boys enter into the room behind the Captain. Leaving Max's half embrace behind she quickly walked over to the boys and inspected them. There were no bruises, cuts, scrapes or broken bones evident as she checked their heads and bodies while asking them a hundred questions about their day. But there was something different about them as she went about her business. None of them would look her in the face. They all blushed and searched the floor, wall or ceilings as she tried to coax some words from them.

"Did you have a good time?" She asked them for a second time after not getting a response. The three nodded their heads.

"I was worried," she turned to the Captain, "why were you so late?" She didn't miss the sideways glance that the Captain and the boys shared before he gave his answer.

"We lost track of time. I apologize if we caused you any concern." He poured himself a drink and taking slow sips she watched as he fought a cough while taking in the slight liquid. Something wasn't right. Before she could find out, the Captain turned his attention to the girls and asked how their afternoon was. It was his way of getting out of her line of fire, and she knew it. His distraction tactic had worked; however, as the girls went on and on about the festival, Maria couldn't get a word in edge wise now even if she had a crowbar.

The entire time the girls talked, the boys remained their uncomfortable selves. They listened with interest to the stories, but they still avoided any eye contact with Maria. Once she had looked over and saw Friedrich looking at her, but when she tried to meet his gaze he flushed crimson and quickly found interest in his pants leg. Meanwhile the Captain couldn't get comfortable anywhere. When he had tried to sit on the settee, Maria thought she saw a wince cross his face. He quickly got up from there and then leaned his weight against the fireplace favoring his left side. Staying like that for only a moment, he took to just pacing the floor. After about ten minutes he announced it was high time everyone got cleaned up and ready for dinner.

The children took their exit with the Captain on their heels. Stopping in the doorway he turned to Maria, "Aren't you coming?"

"Yes Captain, I was just going to say goodbye to Max."

"Well say it and let's go." My goodness, Maria thought, he is so bossy!

Taking her attention away from the bear that stood in the doorway, she turned to her friend, "I'll see you at dinner Max."

With a twinkle in his eye, Max grabbed Maria's hand, bending to kiss the back of it he replied, "Until then Mademoiselle." Maria wasn't sure as she let out another loud giggle from Max's bizarre, over the top behavior, but she thought she heard a low growl come from the doorway where the Captain stood waiting for her to take her exit.

Taking her leave she met the Captain's eyes as she walked through the door and the look she saw in them almost froze her feet to the ground. She had seen him angry before, but this look was beyond that, he was furious. He fell in step behind her as they made their way to and up the stairs. Hearing his labored breathing with each step he gingerly took she stopped to let him catch up to her on the sixth stair. Taking in his expression, the fury was gone and judging by the ashen appearance of his skin she assumed pain had entered into his eyes that he wouldn't let her see. He was holding his left arm awkwardly close to his left side and as he took the final step to meet up with her an unmistakable wince crossed his features. Something was definitely amiss.

"Are you all right, Captain?" She asked him as they remained on the sixth step. There was a sheen of sweat on his skin and his knuckles were white where they gripped the banister.

"Fine, Fraulein." He answered her, his tone filled with gravel. Still, he refused to meet her questioning gaze. Did he really think he was pulling this off?

He took a hard swallow and mustering up all that was in him; he finally brought his eyes up to meet hers and gave her a forced smirk. Resuming his ascension, he held himself rigid and regal taking every last bit of energy he had to pull the task off with some dignity. Maria rolled her eyes at the back of the stubborn man. She could see right through him. Finally making it to the family wing, Maria watched him go through his bedroom door.

Instead of following right behind him as her intentions initially were, she checked on the progress that all the children were making in getting ready for dinner. She had had the forethought to bring over Lynn, Liam's, and her own evening wear before the days outings. She figured at the pace that the Captain was walking, he would have made it to the middle of his bedroom by the time she had finished her errands.

Seeing that the children were doing what it was that they were supposed to be doing, she went back out into the hall and knocked on the Captains door. She waited for an answer, but there was none forth coming. She was not one to be thwarted however, so she pushed open his door and let herself in. Something in the back of her mind sang out and told her that she shouldn't be intruding on the man, but the other part of her that knew that he needed her right now pushed her legs forward to find him in the expanse of space that was the master's bedroom.

Wow, was all her mind could register. The door led her into a small hall that had a study to the left side, at the end of the hall it opened into a grand room that was all dark wood paneled and crimson red. It was cold and hard like the man that lived in it, and yet where the sun light touched it from the enormous windows it glowed warm, red, and hot. She found him leaning against one of the posts of his huge four poster bed which had a mahogany canopy with the same crimson red that was on the walls for bed curtains. He was oblivious to her intrusion.

"Captain," she said from right behind him. Grabbing his side he quickly turned to her gasping from the scare. Inwardly she chuckled from his reaction, and imagined sticking her tongue out at him. How does it feel, Captain?

"Maria," he winced out the word, "you scared me half to death!" Holding himself upright, he brought his angry gaze up to meet her. "What are you doing in my room?" Again she had to hold back a laugh. He had tried to sound angry, but whatever it was that he was hiding masked the anger with pain.

"Coming to get answers from you." She stated as she walked over to him, backing him against his bureau. He looked like a cat cornered by a pack of dogs.

"This is preposterous. You cannot be in my room. It's against all protocol."

"I think protocol went out the window a few nights ago, don't you think Captain?" He narrowed his eyes at her. Apparently now wasn't the time to remind him of his past transgressions.

"I want you to leave now." He demanded, although the edge was gone from his usual authoritative tone.

"I'll leave once I get some answers from you." She narrowed her own eyes at him letting him know full well that she could be just as stubborn as he was. "What happened today?"

"Nothing happened. The boys had a great time everything went well." Maria wondered just how many times he had rehearsed this line in his head.

"No one got hurt?"

He rolled his eyes at her showing his annoyance.

"Does any of the boys look hurt to you?"

Maria rolled her own eyes at the man. This was going nowhere. If he wasn't going to own up to the truth, then she would just have to take matters into her own hands. She quickly reached out and poked him in his left rib cage. He instantly doubled over and cried out in pain.

"Do you want to stick with your story or are you going to tell me the truth now?" She questioned him, helping him stand back up.

"Oh God," he grimaced through the pain, "you're a monster."

"I'm waiting Captain…"

"Fine," he shot her one last nasty look before he started his confession, "when the lesson was over, I was telling the boys why it was important to never walk behind a horse. I was showing them the proper way to do it when a squirrel ran out and frightened the horse and he kicked up catching me in the ribs."

Now she was angry. Removing her balled fists from her side she began to undue the Captains jacket buttons. Making quick work of the garment, she pulled it from his arms and threw it on the floor.

"What are you doing?" The Captain asked her, his breathing more labored than before.

"Checking to make sure your ribs aren't broken." She started on his dress shirt, her fingers moving at lightning speed.

"They're not broken." He stated swatting at her hands trying to get her stop undressing him. She pushed his right hand away and gave him a menacing look.

"I can't believe that you would hide this from me." She pulled the tails from of his shirt out of his pants, finishing the last button quickly. Pushing it from his shoulders she remembered to be as gentle as possible with the left side. The Captains breathing was fast and hard now. Maria figured it was from the pain focusing all of her attention on her task at hand. Finally she freed the dress shirt from his arms adding the garment to the jacket on the floor.

"I thought if you found out you would never let me take the children again."

"Well, the jury is still out on that." She informed him as she took his undershirt in her hands and gently began to lift it up. She felt his stomach muscles quiver as her hands came in contact with his bare skin. It was this action coupled with the Captains suppressed moan that brought her attention to the implications of her actions. Until then she had been focused on checking for injuries. Now, however, she realized she was standing in the Captains bedroom, undressing him garment by garment, with him standing against his bureau with lust filled eyes and panting from her actions. A surge coursed through her body as her fingers once again skimmed his skin, never breaking eye contact with him. She saw his sharp intake of breath while he gritted his teeth against the pain. Heat unfurled in her stomach sending her own muscles into spasms, her own breathing matching his pant by pant.

"I have to check." She said her own voice alien to her in its breathy and raspy nature. He nodded his head and raised his arms up so that she could remove the last garment from his chest. Before she could throw it onto the floor, however, he grabbed it in his right hand, balled it up and placed it in front of his trousers. Oh, she thought, and then quickly tried to refocus on the Captains injuries and not what he was trying to hide.

Taking in the expansive bruise that had already colored the Captain's side she grimaced from the look of it. Beginning at the top of the rib cage down, she began gently pressing on the bones. Needing to steady himself the Captain brought his left hand up to Maria's shoulder for stability. Another strangled moaned escaped his tortured lips.

"Am I hurting you?" She questioned when he closed his eyes against the pain.

"In more ways than I can tell you." His voice was low and smoky and pulled on something inside of Maria that made her feel faint. Ignoring it she continued on with her exploration also trying to ignore the need to splay her hands across his chest and really feel him the way she wanted to right now.

Maria had just gotten done checking the last rib and came to the conclusion that none were broken. When suddenly the Captain dropped his balled up undershirt and grabbing Maria by the back of the head with his right hand and stilling her prodding fingers with his left hand he pulled her close to him and rested his forehead against hers. His breathe scorching the skin of her face with its heat.

"You have stop, Maria. Please. I'm trying really hard right now to be a man of my word. But if you want me to keep honoring the request you made the other night then you will stop touching me right now. Or so help me God with or without your consent I'm going to make you mine, right here, right now."

* * *

><p><em>Hehehe..I know I'm mean…but that's all for now. Let me know what you think. Oh and by the way pretty soon(not to give myself away for the next chapter) I will need to change this story to a Mature rating. But it's up to my readers. Let me know your opinions on how you want me to proceed. I can leave it pretty pg 13 and have more like what you read above, which I consider to be in the Teen rating. <em>


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

_Maria had just gotten done checking the last rib and came to the conclusion that none were broken. When suddenly the Captain dropped his balled up undershirt and grabbing Maria by the back of the head with his right hand and stilling her prodding fingers with his left hand he pulled her close to him and rested his forehead against hers. His breathe scorching the skin of her face with its heat._

"_You have stop, Maria. Please. I'm trying really hard right now to be a man of my word. But if you want me to keep honoring the request you made the other night then you will stop touching me right now. Or so help me God with or without your consent I'm going to make you mine, right here, right now." _

The Captain twined his fingers into her hair and tilted her head to give him better access. He dragged his lips across her forehead, down the side of her face coming to a stop in the crook of her neck. Taking her earlobe between his lips softly he nibbled then suckled on it, making Maria's knees buckle beneath her. At this point she didn't know which way was up or down. She had thought his words alone were enough to send her over the edge, but now he was pushing her farther than she thought she could go.

"I'm trying to be patient, but I don't know how much more I can take." His seductive whisper was enough to make her go faint. What was he doing to her? Her mind reeled from the sensations. While her sleeping hormones jumped awake from their too long slumber, rampaging through her body. My goodness, how much more _he _could take? She questioned. He had barely touched her and she was a pool of needy desire. She didn't know how much more _she_ could take.

She didn't have to worry about that for too long, for suddenly the Captain released her and pushed her away from him. Taken by surprise by the sudden movement, Maria stumbled backwards, the back of her legs finding the settee at the end of the Captains bed giving her something to fall onto. Ungracefully she sat on the padded crimson seat and braced her hands on either side of her while the spinning room slowly refocused in her vision.

Meanwhile, the Captain turned his back to her and placed his hands on top of his bureau, his body bent over as if in pain. Maria wondered if it was from the bruise that he had sustained or from the tension in the room. His back heaved as he gasped for breath, the muscles there quacking under his skin. Maria became mesmerized by their movement, wondering what they would feel like under her hands.

"I'm sorry…" the Captain said still facing the bureau, "I didn't mean to…I…I," his words were broken as he thought of the right thing to say, "I loose myself when I'm around you Maria." His voice sounded so small, like a child's confessing his sins for the first time. "You've bewitched me." Maria was sure it was the other way around, but she held her tongue as the Captain finally let go of the bureau and came to sit by her on the bench.

She heard his sharp intake of breath and his right hand instinctively went to his left side for comfort.

"I don't think any of your ribs are broken," she awkwardly whispered to the air in front of her, not trusting herself to look at him yet, "but they should be wrapped up in case there's a fracture. Go and take a hot shower and then I'll come back and I'll wrap them for you." The Captain let out a long sigh and ran the fingers of his free hand through his hair. She wasn't sure if his frustration came from what had just transpired or from her own lack of acknowledgement. Either way she couldn't concentrate on that, she needed to get out of this room and away from him as quickly as possible. Or she just might lose her last defense and confess her own desires to him.

Making a move to stand, she stopped as the Captain stilled her movement by grabbing her hand.

"You're not going to leave, are you?" It wasn't so much the confusion of his question that made her look at him for the first time, but the fear that she heard in his voice. "The other night you said you would leave if I…" He trailed off here, afraid to finish the sentence. Brushing her hair from her forehead he bore his pleading gaze into her eyes, "Please don't leave me." Oh god, how did he do it? How did he make her heart tumble and blood pound with just his words? She couldn't leave him even if she wanted to. Especially after looking into his eyes that showed his fear, sincerity, and desire blatantly, but it was what was held in shadow that took her breath away and anchored her to him even as it scared the life out of her.

"I won't." Her voice was broken as the beginning of tears sprang to her own eyes. "I won't leave you." She wouldn't leave him but she had to get away from him now. Without hesitation she ran from the room and him. She couldn't let him see what he had done. She couldn't let him see what hid in her own shadow-no damn it. No! - She screamed at herself. This isn't going to happen. Her heart belonged to one man only. She had promised herself that it would never beat for another man as Bill took his last ragged breath right before sweet death had taken him. Yet here it was clanging around in her chest for a man she barely knew. How could she betray her one true love so carelessly?

The one man who knew her inside and out. The one person she had ever confided the truth about herself and what had really happened on that horrific night when her parents had both died, and he loved her despite it. Bill had brought her out of that darkness that she had hid in those months after her parents deaths. He had brought her back into the light, he had made her laugh and love the way no other had before. Her heart had been in his hands, where it remained even after his death. She could never betray him.

Running through the nursery intent on finding her destination, she failed to notice Liesl fully dressed and ready for dinner sitting on the window seat. Making it to the bathroom she splashed some cold water on her face and dissolved into tears. Letting the water run, she continued to wash away her tears, admonishing herself the entire time for being so weak. Why couldn't she be more like the single women she worked with at the school? Some of them went from man to man with nary an emotional feeling shed. Why couldn't she be more like them? Separate physical from emotional.

That's all the Captain wanted from her, anyway, she began to rationalize in her head. Just a physical relationship, he didn't love her, he couldn't. He would in fact loathe her if he ever found out the truth about her and not just the truth that she hid from everyone except for Bill. The other truth about her parentage and what she was the majority shareholder of. Vilhelm ran the family business now, simply because Maria wanted nothing to do with it. On paper however, Maria was actually Vilhelm's senior partner, having inherited her father's half as well as the shares that Bill had received after his eighteenth birthday. Maria could only imagine how the Captain would react if he ever found out that Maria was the Queen of the shipping empire that had supplied the Allied powers during the Great War with supplies and ammunition. The same Great War that the Captain had fought bravely in and lost, though the rest of Austria may have forgiven them for that, somehow Maria was sure the Captain hadn't.

It could be so easy, she thought, to lose herself in him. To let him take her where his touch promised her to go if it weren't for these tangled strings attached she would follow him there. The problem was they would never be able to find their back again if they took that path.

"Fraulein," she heard Liesl's voice coming from the open doorway to the bathroom. In her haste to find solitude, she had forgotten to shut the door. "Are you alright?"

Maria glanced up at the mirror talking to the girls reflection she replied, "I'm fine Liesl," pausing to think of a plausible excuse she could only muster, "I must have been allergic to some of the flowers today, my eyes were watering."

"Oh, I'm sorry, I thought—well I thought you were crying."

"My goodness, no," the lie didn't even sound convincing to Maria. She turned and conjured up a smile trying to reassure the girl, "I'm fine, see."

Liesl gave her a half convinced nod. Maria was again taken aback by how grown up the girl was. She was only sixteen and yet she seemed worlds older than that. This probably stemmed from the years of acting as surrogate mother to her younger brothers and sisters. When her mother had died, Maria figured, Liesl had gone from adolescent to adult in a blink of an eye. With no one around to help her. The two of them had more in common than the girl thought.

Before she followed the girl into the nursery, Maria grabbed what she needed to tend to the Captains injuries from the medicine chest.

"What's that for?" Liesl questioned her.

"Your father had a little accident today." Worry immediately sprang into the girls eyes. "He's fine though, not to worry. This is just for precaution."

"Oh." Liesl looked at the ground and then up to Maria, "Fraulein, I'm so glad that you're here with us. You've made us a family again. I don't know what we'd ever do without you."

A part of Maria's heart shriveled up and died. She herself had begun to worry over the past few days how in the world she was ever going to part from these children. She loved each and every one as if they were her own. Having chosen a date to leave the country already and sail back to her homeland, she had ordered Vilhelm through a phone call to block seven rooms for her on their luxury liner in case she somehow convinced the Captain to leave Austria as well. She couldn't leave without knowing that they would all be safe in case things went to hell like Vilhelm's warnings foretold. Apparently his meeting with the Chancellor hadn't gone well. He hadn't gone into great detail afraid that Maria's line wasn't secure, but his tone of voice had told her all that she needed to know. It was imminent that she get out of Austria, not only was there danger to herself, but the Nazi's didn't tolerate people like Liam. Her fear for her son's safety held no bounds. Pushing her scattered worrisome thoughts out of her mind she focused on the young woman in the room with her.

"Liesl, I didn't do anything. I think it was your father who brought you all together again."

"But if it wasn't for you, Father would still be his old self." Maria couldn't help but blush. The girl was definitely older than her years. "He's really a good man, Fraulein. Don't you think?" Maria was a little taken aback by the question.

"Well, yes, he is a good man."

"Do you like him?" She asked, but before Maria could answer her she began again, "I think he likes you—I think he likes you more than he likes the Baroness." Oh man Maria thought. When is this day going to end? She had never felt more like a ping pong ball in her life. First she had the argument with the Captain in the hall about the horseback riding. Then there was the so called kiss in the driveway. Then there were the never ending questions from her Aunt. Not to mention the heated scene in the Captains bedroom, and now she was under Liesl's fire. She couldn't take much more and she still had to go and wrap up the Captains ribs and then sit through dinner. She had never drank alcohol in her life, but there was a first time for everything.

"Of course I like your father, as a friend Liesl, and nothing more."

"Oh," Liesl replied biting her lip and looking at the ground. Her disappointment was evident as she rocked back and forth on her tiptoes and dipped her shoulders. "It's just that, well, the other children and I have decided that we don't like the baroness. And if we are to have a new mother, we would like it to be you, Fraulein." Maria was dumbstruck by the statement. When she didn't answer right away Liesl threw in for good measure, "Lynn and Liam like the idea too. So everyone would be really happy if you and my father were to marry."

"Oh well, please tell all of the children that I thank them for their blessing, no matter how unsolicited it is", Maria began in her most sarcastic voice, "and though I am flattered that you all want me to be your mother and I would like nothing more in the world than to be so- things just don't work that way."

"What do you mean?"

"Liesl when two people get married it's supposed to be for love.."

"But you and Father could love each other," the girl cut in whining her opinion, "I know you could. I've seen the way you look at each other. And I saw you today, kiss in the driveway." Uh ohh. Maria had suspected that one of the children had seen them. How was she going to explain this?

"That was an accident."

"How do you accidently kiss someone?"

"I don't know. I'm still trying to figure that out for myself." Maria placed her hand on the girls' cheek and gave her a reassuring caress. "Liesl I know you children are afraid of what is going to happen to you in the future if your father and Baroness Schraeder marry. It's natural to be a little afraid. But you have to give her a chance. You all hardly know her. And no matter what I'll always be here for you. I'll always be just a phone call or a letter away. No matter where I am in the world I will always come if any one of you needs me. I promise you that." Liesl rolled her eyes at Maria. She wasn't happy that she was going to have to go back and tell the rest of her troop that she had failed in her mission.

"Now, I have to go and tend to your father. Will you do me a favor and make sure the rest of the children are ready for dinner?"

"Yes, Fraulein." Liesl began to take her leave from the room, stopping just short of the door she turned back to Maria with puppy dog eyes, "Will you at least think about it?"

It was a conspiracy, Maria thought. Somehow her Aunt had conspired with these children to drive her insane. Simply wanting to go forward with her horrible day, Maria gave the girl an exasperated sigh and a nod of her head. "If I tell you that I'll think about it, will you leave me alone for now?" Liesl nodded her head frantically. "Fine, I'll think about it." With a huge smile the girl sauntered off down the hall to inform her comrades. Oh boy, Maria thought, I may have just made things worse for myself.

_You all might be a little disappointed by this chapter, but I felt it wasn't their time yet. It will come soon enough, that's all that I will say. Hope you like the chapter anyway. Just keep looking for the change in rating. When you don't find it on the main page, that's when you'll know I've finally changed the rating._


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Once again Maria found herself outside the Captains bedroom door. Unlike before when her knock was unanswered this time her knuckles had barely come in contact with the wood when the door was thrown open by the harrowed occupant. Obviously she wasn't the only one who had gone to hell and back since her hasty departure. She could only pray that the nature of the events that had transpired didn't show on her the way they were on him.

Grabbing her at the elbow, he yanked her into the hall of his private quarters swiftly closing the door behind her.

"You came back." He sheepishly whispered still holding her at the elbow with one hand while gently taking the hand of her free arm in his other. "I thought you were going to leave."

"I told you I was coming back." She replied to the floor. She couldn't bring herself to look into his haunted eyes. They beckoned her to heal them and she couldn't do that unless she healed herself first. "I didn't mean to run out on you like that, I needed some air."

"I'm glad you came back." They stood silent for a few moments, standing toe to toe with him still holding her by the elbow and hand. She felt like the eye of a tornado with the air around them stilling while the electric current surged between their two bodies. Breaking the connection she pulled her hand out of his grasp and walked up the little hall into his bedroom.

"You didn't shower yet?" She questioned in the most imperious voice she could muster.

"I was too busy pacing." He replied while running his right hand through his hair. He was still shirtless and his actions did two things to her at the same time. Concentrating on the one that didn't make her blood race through her veins she pointed her hand towards his bathroom door and gave a command.

"Shower now." The authoritative tone she used had the reverse effect on the Captain. Instead of following the order, he let a slow wicked smile form on his face. With purposeful strides he started towards her. No longer was he the little kitty that had done wrong with his tail between his legs. He was once again the tiger after it's pray as he backed her against the wall.

"You forget Fraulein," his voice was low and sultry and it shot right through her making her legs jelly once again. Thank goodness she had the wall to hold her up. "That I am the Captain. Even in the bedroom I still give the orders." Oh lord. She looked down at the floor to make sure that she hadn't turned into a pile of wanton goo. Nope she was still standing, though she didn't know how.

"Well if you're the Captain," she started in a shaky voice, "then I'm the Admiral. And I'm telling you to get into the shower because you're making us late for dinner." The wicked smile that had been plastered on his face began to twitch, with an amused chuckle he put some distance between them.

"You're not going to make this easy, are you?"

"Make what easy?"

"_This._" He waved his hand between the two of them.

"I thought we had agreed that there was no_ this_." She mimicked his movements.

"I never agreed to that."

"But you said before that…"

"No, No, Fraulein. I think you are confused by my earlier reactions. There is definitely a _this_. And _this_ is going to happen, but not until you're ready. Not until I know that you aren't going to run away from me."

"Oh, I see." She could only hope her sarcastic tone wasn't drowned out by the lump that was in her throat. "And what of the Baroness? Have you discussed these plans with her?" His eyes widened at the mention of the Baroness and he cursed under his breath. Had he forgotten about her, Maria wondered, for she surely hadn't.

Narrowing his eyes at her he took his leave to the washroom. Murmuring, "I'll only be a moment," as he closed the door with a little more force than was necessary behind him. Shouldn't she be the angry one, she wondered at the closed door. What was it that the man wanted from her anyway?

Alone in the main part of his bedroom, Maria began to take in all the little details. The room itself screamed the Captain. It was dark and brooding just like the man that inhabited it. Having known the late Baroness von Trapp personally, Maria could not imagine her ever living in this bedroom. He must have erased all traces of her after her passing. The only thing that Maria could find that remained of Agathe were the scattered photographs of her on the Captains bureau. Taking the one picture that was a close up head shot of the woman into her hands; Maria couldn't believe how much Louisa resembled her mother. Just like Liam and Bill the resemblance between mother and daughter was uncanny. Though she could find traces of six of the seven children in the photograph, the picture was like looking at Louisa a few years in the future. Brigitta, however, was her father's daughter through and through.

Hearing the water cut off in the bathroom, Maria continued her scrutiny of each photograph. Among the three that were of Agathe alone, there were several others of the entire family. First, just the Captain, Agathe and who she assumed was Liesl as an infant. Then several others that depicted a growing family. What struck Maria the most in these photos was the Captain. He looked proud, happy and carefree. Try as she might she couldn't find the dark shadow that lived within the Captain today. She let out a sigh for the man, for she too knew the dark shadow. However, hers had been with her longer than her own lover's death.

Putting back the last of the photographs she turned her attention to the large window seat that occupied the bay windows in the back of the Captains bedroom. Mounted there was an old brass spy scope that one would see on old pirate ships. Maria smiled at the relic. Of course the Captain would have something like that in his bedroom, how could he not? Bending down and peering into the eye peace Maria was taken by surprise to see her own bedroom windows at the cottage come perfectly into view. My God, he's been spying on her! She fumed at the idea.

The realization made her stand up stiff. Hearing the Captain exit the bathroom she whirled around on the unsuspecting man, ready for confrontation. She almost lost her words as the site of him freshly showered, with just his dress trousers on and his hair still dripping from the shower, chocked in her throat. Then there was the smell that invaded her nostrils as he glided across his bedroom towards her, it smelled of wood and pine and well, man.

"You've been spying on me." She accused him, gripping the spy scope for courage as well as stability. The accusation was meant to be cutting, however, her words had lost their edge somewhere behind her beating heart.

"Well, Fraulein," The Captain began stopping his footsteps just short of running into her. Damn it! Why did he need to stand so close to her? "If you are going to go around at night with the light on and the blinds drawn, I can't help but look."

"I didn't think anyone could see!"

"Obviously." His voice was low and his tongue curled around every syllable.

"Oh my God! What have you seen?"

The Captain wagged his eyebrows up and down at her and gave her his most wicked smile. Maria couldn't believe it. She was so angry she simply couldn't form a coherent sentence.

"I can't…I just don't…how…oh you are…I can't…I don't even…"

"Fraulein, Fraulein," the Captain tried to calm her while fighting off his laughter at her reaction. He was holding his left arm close to his side and leaning in an odd position while trying to stop her frantic tantrum with his right hand on her shoulder. "Maria, I was only joshing you, now stop. It hurts to laugh. I didn't see anything, I swear."

"You promise?" She narrowed her eyes at him demanding the truth.

"Well, lets see." He sat on the crimson bench at the foot of his bed and began the laborious task of putting on his socks. Having mercy on him after the first three grunts of pain and failed attempts, Maria knelt down in front of him at put them on for him. "I saw you lose your fight with the burrs the first night you were here. That was pretty comical, by the way." Maria rolled her eyes at him. "I've seen you say your prayers at night before you go to bed." This made her look up at him; she wasn't too thrilled with him invading her privacy like that. She considered her nightly conversations with God very personal. "And I wondered if you said a prayer for me." He confessed on a whisper. However surprised she was by his admission, nothing prepared her for his final confession. "Then I saw you the other night, tossing and turning in your bed. When you finally woke screaming you went downstairs and made yourself some tea. Then you cried yourself back to sleep at the kitchen table. And I wondered, what on earth could make a grown woman so scared that she sleeps with her bedroom light on every night and it haunts her every dream?"

Reaching out the Captain caressed her cheek as fresh tears threatened to fall from her eyes.

"I simply had a nightmare." She replied standing and readying the bandage for his wound. The Captain shook his head at her, and then stood obediently so that she could perform the task that she had come to do.

"Ah Fraulein, you went into the wrong profession. You should have been a mason. You rebuild walls faster than I can tear them down."

"What are you talking about?" She asked as she rolled the bandage around his ribs with expertise. "I don't have any walls."

"No, you're right, Fraulein. I have walls. You have steel bars." Finishing the last wrap around his ribs she pulled the bandage a little tighter than need be, tying the ends together. He grunted from the pressure, "I probably shouldn't make you angry while you are doing this, should I?"

"Probably not." Stepping back a little she regarded her work with scrutiny. It'll do she thought. She then proceeded to give him the does and the don'ts while his wound healed. He definitely wouldn't be taking the girls horseback riding anytime this week. When she was finished she helped him into his undershirt.

"You know Fraulein, you and Liam are amazing. You both seem to know everything about…well everything."

Clearing her throat she said, "We're just observant, Captain."

"Oh no, Brigitta is observant, you two are…" he faltered here looking for the right word, "different."

Different. Wasn't that the story of her life? Walking behind him she nudged his right arm so that he would hold it out for her so that she could start with his dress shirt. Finishing that task she waited for him to repeat the process with the left arm. This took a little more effort on his part. Working as fast as she could she slid the garment with care up his arm.

"Well, one good thing about all of this," he said, "I don't think our boys will ever make the mistake of walking behind a horse."

"Oh so you did this on purpose to teach the boys a lesson right?" She teased him back. It was odd to her. How they could go from seductive to serious to teasing in a flash. Why did it have to be so easy with him? The easy was making things very hard for her.

Coming around to his front she dragged the garment across his chest bringing the lapels together. Looking up into his eyes she said, "You could probably finish the rest yourself."

He gave his head a half shake and brought back his wicked smile. The one that she was beginning to love and feel that existed only for her. "I could, but I like it when you do it."

Rolling her eyes at him, she couldn't hide her smirk. "You have no shame."

"Not when I'm around you."

Suddenly the teasing was gone and the electricity was back as her fingers stealthily moved from button to button. No longer could she look in his eyes as flames turned her cheeks crimson to match the room. Instead she concentrated on his chest and the task that she was trying to perform. Her fingers however, were no longer cooperating as they began to shake. She could feel the Captains eyes on her, their gaze burning into her skin, begging her to give in to him. Keeping her own eyes locked onto his chest she watched as his breathing became fast and shallow, her own mimicking the rhythm that he set.

"Maria," he growled while threading his right hand into her hair.

"Captain, don't.." her plea was silenced as the Captain brought his mouth crashing down onto hers. Stunned by his actions she gasped. Without hesitation the Captain furthered his assault and deepened the kiss, snaking his tongue into her mouth. This wasn't like the chaste kiss that they shared earlier in the day. There was nothing accidental about this as the Captain took his time getting to know her mouth, dragging his tongue first across her lower lip, then her teeth, then stroking his tongue along hers.  
>When her legs threatened to give out on her he molded the hand in hair around her head and tightened his grip. Finally when she thought she could take no more he broke the kiss and rested his cheek against hers.<p>

"Tell me you don't want me Maria and I'll leave you alone." His raspy whisper tickled her ear.

"I don't want you." He would never know how hard it was for her to speak those words. Still only holding her by her head the Captain nuzzled along her neck and then stuck is tongue against her pounding pulse.

"You're a liar." He growled as her wrapped his lips around the pounding flesh sucking it hard. Gently he took the tender skin between his teeth holding the beating flesh in his mouth, letting her know that he knew exactly what he was doing to her.

A moan that began somewhere in the vicinity of her toes escaped her lips.

"Captain, please," she begged him, "I can't."

The Captain let out another growl, though this one was filled with frustration as he brought his forehead up to rest against hers.

"You can't or you won't?" He spat the angry words against her skin.

"Does it matter?"

"It does to me." He said closing his eyes, while catching his breath. Maria took some time to do the same as she formulated the best answer to give him.

"I won't, because of the Baroness. I won't be the other woman Captain. I have seen with my own two eyes what the other woman does to a family. And I simply won't do that to anyone, ever." She backed out of his embrace and looked him in the eye. The answer she found their told her that he wasn't too surprised to find out that she wouldn't compromise herself in that way.

"I can't, because I love my husband. I'll always love him. When he died that part of my heart died with him. I have nothing left to give anyone."

She watched through her tears as he took her words in stoically. He wasn't angry or sad, he was simply still. She hoped that he couldn't see the real truth that lay deep within her. Yes, it was all true what she had said, but there was another truth as to why she couldn't give in to him. The one truth that scared her down to her very core, the one truth that she would fight night and day for him never to see. Whether or not he understood it, she didn't care, it was what was best for him.

With a nod of his head he gave her his understanding.

"Okay Maria," He replied never taking his eyes from hers, "We'll do it your way."

"Thank you Captain." She turned to leave the room. Sanctuary, that's what she needed right now. She stopped for a moment as his final words sliced through her back and into her heart.

"But don't ever think that you don't have anything to give, Maria. You have already given me more than you could possibly imagine."


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

If Maria had thought that the tension at lunch had been thick at the table, it was nothing compared to the evening meal. The boys still avoided any kind of eye contact with Maria. Trying unsuccessfully several times to engage them in conversation failed with her only receiving one word answers from all three. At first she had figured that their demeanor was from the secret that they thought they had to keep of the Captains accident. That failed to be true, however, for after Maria had informed them that she knew of the horse kicking the Captain in the ribs, they continued to act the same way.

The Baroness seemed absent minded and lost in her own wistful thoughts. Max had tried to coax some conversation from the lady quite a few times but she was off somewhere in her own little world for most of the dinner. Meanwhile the Captain and Maria avoided any eye contact like the plague and spoke to each other only threw the children.

The two youngest girls, Gretl and Marta were oblivious to the three different conflicts at the table thankfully and their chatter helped the meal pass with some ease for Maria. She focused her attention on them trying to ignore the empty void that she felt in the pit of her stomach.

Somewhere amidst her conversation with the two little girls she heard Max and Lynn chatting about music. She was only half paying attention until she heard her own name mentioned in their conversation.

"My mother could help you," she heard Lynn say to Max, "her and my father used to write all sorts of music together, isn't that right mother?" Upon hearing her late husband mentioned Maria's attention perked up. She looked up from her plate in time to see a melancholy look pass over the Captain's features as they both focused their attention onto Lynn.

"What's that dear?" Maria asked her daughter.

"You and father used to write music together."

"Oh, ahhh, sometimes." She awkwardly replied into her plate.

"Uncle Max is having some trouble writing a new song for his play and I told him that you could help him finish it."

"Uncle Max?" Maria and the Captain both spoke the same question at the same time.

"I hope you don't mind Maria, I told your children to call me that. All of Georg's children do and well.." Max finished his sentence with a shy smile and shrug of his shoulder.

Giving him a wink Maria replied, "It's fine Max, and thank you." The two shared a little smile across the table holding eye contact only until they heard the Captains fork clink against his plate. Stealing a quick look in his direction before returning her eyes back to her plate she saw a dark look upon the Captains features pointed in Max's direction.

The rest of the meal finished with Max filling Maria in on the play that he was writing. The play was loosely based on the story of the song La Peregrina. As the story goes the song was commissioned by Felipe Carrillo Puerto a Mexican governor to be written for his love Alma Reed, a journalist. The song is about a Governor of Yucatan who falls in love with a journalist who comes to Mexico from California to interview him. The song was basically the story of how the two fell in love in real life. The tragic part of the true love story was that before they could be married, Felipe Carrillo Puerto was executed in a civil uprising by the Mexican revolutionaries.*

"My problem is Fraulein," Max addressed her, "is that the producers want a song during the part of the play where Alma is struggling not to fall in love with the Governor when she first meets him. The play is done for the most part and now they want another song. I sat at the piano all day, and I got nothing. I could really use some help."

"Max I would love to help you, but it's been forever since I've written anything. And Bill always wrote the music and I simply supplied the words."

"Not always Mother," Lynn chimed in. Her daughter was always her biggest champion. "You wrote some of the music too. Remember we saw you on the last film writing the music while father pulled your pigtails, like when you were children."

"What's this now? What film?" The Captains interest had been peeked. LYNN, Maria screamed in her head.

"My husband's talent was music, but his passion was for film. He wanted to be a movie director, but his father wouldn't allow it. So he made home movies of all of us instead." Maria explained.

"Yes and every year on our birthday we get to watch one." Liam said. Maria closed her eyes, silently saying in her head, "Children, please don't help me."

Suddenly around the dinner table arouse pleas from the von Trapp children to see one of the films.

"I would love to see a film, Fraulein. I've never seen one, ever. Father never takes us to the movies." Little Marta's plea went straight through Maria. She brought her disapproving look up to the Captain, who was sitting wide eyed in shock and embarrassment from being called out by his daughter. Quickly though he recovered and lobbed the ball back into her court.

"I'm sure I've brought you to the cinema before Marta, you just don't remember." He gave his daughter a reassuring smile, "Ah Fraulein, I too would love to see one of your husband's films." The table interrupted then in a chorus of approving noise from the nine children. When he was sure that the Baroness and Max were absorbed in the chaos of the children he met Maria's eyes, "I would love to meet the man that hung the moon."

"Great!" Liam yelled from his seat at the table, "Friedrich, Kurt and I will go over to the cottage after dessert and get the camera and film."

Wait a minute, Maria mused, what just happened? Before she could voice her objection to her sons plan all of the other children were throwing thank yous in her direction. Apparently they would be watching one of Bill's films this evening, whether or not she wanted to.

Maria spent the rest of the meal, including dessert wrapping her head around the notion that she would be seeing Bill this evening. Whenever she watched one of his films it took her days to recover from the melancholy feeling that the last scene would leave behind for days. Normally she would psyche herself up for it before the viewing; she only had a few minutes to do that now, instead of days that she would normally take.

The boys were in such a rush to set the camera up that they asked to be excused as soon as they had finished their desserts. Liam had wanted to leave before that, but Kurt wasn't about to miss out on his favorite part of the meal. Lynn went with them to help pick out which film to view. Maria had given them strict instructions to not pick one of the birthday films that their father had made that hadn't been viewed yet. Bill had specifically made those films to be viewed as to the year that they were turning.

Meanwhile the Baroness came out of her stupor and spent the rest of the meal telling the Captain about the dinner she was planning for the villa the following week. Maria choked on her schnitzel when she heard Vilhelm's name mentioned on the guest list.

"Von Helstin!" The Captain spat into his coffee, "That scoundrel! I wouldn't feed him moldy bread if he showed up at my door. Take him off the list."

"Oh Georg," the Baroness soothed, "let by gone's be by gone's. The war is over. Besides I can't take him off the list, he specifically asked to be on the guest list. Apparently you made quite an impression on him at the dinner party we attended in Vienna last week."

What's this now, Maria screamed in her head. The Captain had already met her father in law. This can't be good.

"I've never met that man in my life. If I had I would have told him what I thought of him already. You know his ships helped us lose the war. They brought ammunition and supplies out to the American warships that would turn around and sink ours. He is responsible for the loss of many of our boy's lives. And now he calls himself an Austrian!" The Captain was growing angrier and angrier by the minute; Maria was glad that her children weren't here to witness his disapproval for their grandfather.

"Maybe Captain he is an American with an Austrian heart," Maria subtlety defended the man, "I would imagine he was in a rock and a hard place during the war. He did what he thought was right for his country."

The Captain sliced her with his eyes, but she firmly held his gaze. She couldn't let him degrade Vilhelm. Besides it was Maria's father who had made the decision to help the war effort back then, not Vilhelm. It was the one thing her father ever did that Maria actually agreed with him about.

"And which country would that be, Fraulein, because it certainly couldn't have been Austria." He narrowed his eyes into that dangerous look that could still rolling water, "Oh that's right, I forgot that you are about as Austrian as he is. American's.." He muttered that last word under his breath as if it were a curse.

Maria's mouth gaped open at his degradation of her citizenship. However, before she could get a word out Max stepped in to stop the oncoming war that every one remaining at the table sensed in the air.

"Georg, you met von Helstin. He was in the gentlemen's parlor that night. I saw him nod his head at you when they removed the drunken chancellor from the room, you remember."

The Captain sat silent for a minute racking his brain, while Maria tried to figure out which chancellor they were referring to.

"That was him?" The Captain asked Max.

"Yes. Actually I spoke with him for some time. He's actually a very nice man. For some reason, now that I think about it, he had a lot of questions about you, Georg." Maria silently moaned in her head. Dammit Vilhelm what is your game, she cursed the old man. She knew that it was a bad idea to have informed Vilhelm of her summer employment at the von Trapp villa. First she had to sit through an hour long lecture of her not needing to work at all and why he simply couldn't understand the reason she insisted on doing so. Then there was always the problem of him meddling wherever she went. Though he had promised her over and over again that he wouldn't bother the Captain, she now saw that he had only slightly kept his word.

The Baroness clapped her hands together, "Maybe he is going to offer you a commission on one of his ships, Georg. Wouldn't that be wonderful?"

"I wouldn't take a job from that man even if I was starving and on the street. He still runs his ships from the ports that were taken from this country. Still living off the wealth from the blood of our boys. It would be a cold day in hell before I took a job from that man. I'd rather work for the Nazi's."

So much for Maria's plans to tell the Captain the truth, she would have to come up with another way if she was going to talk the Captain into letting her take his children with her when she left the country. She had known that he wouldn't like the idea of her being one of the owners of Kutschera Von Helstin shipping, but she hadn't counted on this sort of reaction. This was the Captain at his worst; somehow she was going to have to find a way around this hurdle.

Thankfully Franz appeared in the doorway to end the conversation. Approaching the Captain he handed him a piece of paper.

"Telegram for you sir." Instead of heading out the door, Franz continued down to Maria's seat and handed her another piece of paper. "And you as well, Fraulein."

"Who delivered the telegrams, Franz." Liesl questioned from her seat.

"Young lad Rolf, of course." The butler replied, "Excuse me Captain," he interrupted the Captains bewildered reading of his telegram.

"Yes Franz."

"Rolf is requesting an audience with you and Miss Liesl when you have finished your dinners." The Captain gave one last questioning look at his telegram and then cut his eyes in Liesl's direction. For a moment Liesl stopped her silent celebration in her seat as her father's look settled upon her. But only for a moment, Maria supposed not even her father's scariest stare could wipe the wide grin off the girls face at this point.

"Show him to my study, Franz" the Captain ordered than slowly began to sip from his coffee once more. Allowing a few tense minutes to pass the Captain finally stood from his seat then gestured for Liesl to follow him.

With new found fear plastered on her face Liesl begged Maria, "Fraulein, will you come too?"

"Ahh…well," Maria sputtered as the Captain waited impatiently in the doorway. Do I have to? She wanted to ask, but she couldn't deny the girl her request. She wouldn't want to go in there alone either.

"It's fine with me, Fraulein." The Captain said then started towards his study.

Pocketing her unread telegram, Maria followed the two down the hall. Before entering the room Liesl stopped and waited for Maria to catch up then clung to her arm for support. They found Rolf nervously waiting for their arrival, pacing in front of the Captains fireplace. He'd probably been rehearsing his lines once more. However seeing the Captain enter the room, the boy's face turned pale white and his words were lost somewhere amidst the fear of his mind. Suddenly he looked as if he might jump out the nearest window.

"Ggggood…ggggoood evening Captain." The boy stuttered on every word. Instead of making it easier for the boy the Captain threw around his authority making the boy look as if he would die on the spot.

"Yes what is it?" He bellowed at the poor kid.

"Ahh …well…ahhh…what is it?" My goodness, Maria's heart went out to him.

"Hello Rolf," she greeted him. It was the first that he had noticed that she was in the room.

"Hello Fraulein Rainer, how are you." He relaxed a little focusing on her instead of the Captain.

"I'm fine thank you." Taking some money out of her pocket she walked over and handed it to him, "And thank you for bringing my telegram," she kissed him on the cheek then whispered in his ear, "don't be afraid of him his bark is worse than his bite."

Rolf turned crimson nodding his head and staring at the floor. Turning her attention back to the Captain who was looking annoyed at her, she gave him a triumphant smile for having smoldered his reign of terror. Narrowing her eyes at him she mouthed the words, "Be nice," then nodded her head in the direction of his daughter. This wasn't about him, it was about Liesl. Giving her an eye roll the Captain cleared his throat.

"I'm sorry, Rolf, I didn't mean to be so blunt with you. What can I do for you this evening?" The Captain gave Maria the "is that better look."

"Ummm…well sir, you see ummm on Friday in the town park they are showing a movie on the lawn. And well, I was wondering if you would allow me, I mean, I would really like it if Liesl could accompany me to the movie." He said all the words on one breath, when he was done he gulped air as if it would be his last breath, waiting for the Captain to strike him dead at the suggestion.

The Captain began pacing the room, placing his hand on his chin in deep thought. Oh boy, Maria thought.

"Doesn't that sound nice, Captain?" Maria intoned her opinion, while Liesl turned the same shade of white from her father's silence that her suitor had been for a few minutes now. "A movie on the lawn. That would make for a wonderful first date." The Captain was next to Maria in his pace as she finished her thought, growling the word "date" at her under his breath he continued on in his loop.

"Rolf," the Captain began finally reaching his decision, "you seem like a nice young man. However, I feel Liesl is too young to start excepting suitors."

"Father," Liesl piped in, "I'm sixteen. Soon to be seventeen in two months. Many girls my age have started dating."

"Yes, but they are not my daughters, you are." His voice was firm without any indication of wavering from his decision. "That is my final word Liesl. You are too young to be going out alone with a boy."

"We wouldn't be alone sir," Rolf said in desperation, "there would be several of our classmates joining us. Two other couples and one of their mothers would chaperone." The boy flashed him a nervous smile. He suddenly looked like he poked one too many times at an angry snake.

"See Captain, it's just an innocent outing with friends. Not a date." Maria walked over and placed her hand on Liesl's shoulder, "surely Liesl isn't too young to go out with her friends. Plus there will be an adult there to make sure that they all behave themselves." Again she got an eye roll from him. "You know Captain, Liesl spends her days helping me with the children, she deserves to spend some time with her peers as well. It could be your way of thanking her for all that she does around here." That's it Maria, she thought. Guilt always works best.

Again there was another low growl from the Captain, that's when Maria knew she had won.

"Fine, Friday, you may come for dinner and then take Liesl to the movie."

"Really Father!" Liesl jumped up for joy and then gave her father a hug. The Captain looked a little bemused as Liesl's affection knocked a little more edge off his shoulders. Throwing Rolf a wink that said, "See I told you he isn't as bad as he comes across", she quickly changed her expression back to stoic as the Captain caught her in the act.

Rolf came over and shook the Captain's hand, bidding them all a good night.

"May I walk him out father?" Liesl asked.

"Fine, five minutes." The Captain answered. Maria actually felt bad for him as she watched the defeated look cross his face as the two love birds walked out of his study. It can't be easy watching your baby become a woman. Somewhere in the back of Maria's mind she thought of Lynn and how she will feel the first time a boy comes to ask her out on a date. The thought terrified her.

"How did I let you talk me into this?" He asked her, still staring at the closed door that his daughter had just closed.

"I didn't talk you into anything. You love your daughter and you want her to be happy. You did the right thing Captain."

He let out a long sigh, "It doesn't feel like the right thing."

"Short of taking her and locking her in a tower and throwing away the key, you're going to have to face the fact that she is growing up Captain."

"That doesn't sound like a bad idea. I could have a tower built in the back yard."

"Wise ass." The words that Maria had been thinking slipped off her tongue. Thank goodness she had said them in English.

"What? What did you call me?"

"Nothing. It's just an English saying, Captain. There's no translation."

"Uh hum." He murmured in a disbelieving tone. Taking his telegram out of his pocket he handed it to her. "I do believe that our telegrams were switched. This one must be for you." Opening the correspondence Maria's blood drained from her face. The message was short, sweet and utterly revealing.

_**Departure is imminent: stop: For your safety and the children's true identity must remain anonymous :Stop Captain is joining enemy fold:stop Will explain all tonight 9pm:stop  
><strong>_

"Do you care to explain, Fraulein?" The Captain questioned her.

"You're a Nazi?" She whispered disbelievingly.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

_**Departure is imminent: stop: For your safety and the children's true identity must remain anonymous :Stop Captain is joining enemy fold:stop Will explain all tonight 9pm:stop  
><strong>_

Do you care to explain, Fraulein?" The Captain questioned her.

"You're a Nazi?" She whispered disbelievingly.

Think Maria, think! She had to come up with a plausible explanation for the rest of the telegram, but

her mind clung to the one phrase, _**Captain is joining enemy fold. **_ It stuck to it like a fly on trap paper, how could she be so stupid? She never once in a million years would have thought that he could hold the same principles as the Nazi's. Was she really that blind?

"Fraulein? I'm waiting for an explanation." The Captains tone was dark and foreboding. "Who sent that telegram to you?"

"My father in law." Maria answered him without taking her eyes off the piece of paper. Everything around her stilled, the only movement she could see were those five words in front of her. They seemed to lift off the paper itself and dance in front of her face. _**Enemy Fold. **_Their taunting mesmerizing her into a stupor.

"What departure is he referring too?" Maria heard his words; however her mind was still frozen from shock. A Nazi, the Captain is a Nazi, the words rolled around her brain like tumbleweed. Yes, he was angry that they had lost the war and even angrier still for Austria having been stripped of her ports. But surely he wasn't angry enough to believe in Hitler's tirade of lies and deception aimed straight at the vindictive hearts of the nation. Anyone with half a brain could see right through his promises and pledges to the truth that he was a madman out to rule the world using any means possible to accomplish his goal.

"Maria!" The Captain slammed his hand down on the desk breaking her out of her trance. "What departure?"

Think fast girl, she yelled at herself putting her mind into overdrive.

"My father in law wants me to take the children back to America. He's in an uproar over the political unrest here and feels that it would be safer for us to go back home at the end of summer. He feels that if the Anschluss does take place that the children and I being American citizens would put us into danger, thus the anonymity part." She should have shut her mouth then. She should have known better herself than to poke an already agitated snake with a stick, but she couldn't help herself. It didn't feel good to be betrayed. Though he hadn't done anything to her per say, he had led her to believe that he was a good and decent man, that alone was betrayal enough.

"My father in law is in commodities and unlike others" she emphasized the last part hoping that he wouldn't miss her meaning, "He won't sell out to the Nazi's."

The Captain coiled back like a cobra ready to strike. "You think I'm a Nazi?"

"That's what the man says."

"And your father in law knows everything? I don't even know the man's name! How can you believe the words of someone I've never even met?"

"He must know something or he wouldn't have put it into writing. He's not the type to throw accusations around." Remembering the Captain's telegram that was in her pocket Maria removed it and began to open it. He had read hers; it was only fair that she could read his.

_**Thank you for considering the position of Naval Commissioner in Kiel:stopWe look forward to hearing your good word:stop Fuhrer Adolf Hitler Commander in Chief Kriegsmarine**_

She handed the Captain the piece of paper waving it rapidly in front of him as if it were on fire and she couldn't get rid of it fast enough.

"Don't keep him waiting, Captain." She said her voice soaked in disdain, "I hear he isn't a very patient man."

"I can explain this, Maria." The Captain said after he had read the telegram and then rolled it into a ball and threw it into the waste basket. "They had offered me a ship to command and I turned them down with the excuse of the children. Then they turned around and offered me an entire commission, where I would be based on land and could move the children with me. I couldn't turn them down again with the Anschluss looming in the future. I had to tell them that I was strongly considering it to give me time to tie up loose ends here at home. That way when I start wiring my accounts and packing up the family to move the hell out of here, there will be no suspicions. I would never join them Maria, you have to believe me. I am an Austrian. I could never be a Nazi."

Leave? He was going to leave without her? Maria shook her head at the intrusive thought, but the words still came out of her mouth, "You didn't tell me that you were planning to leave."

"Neither did you." He said. His words hit her square in the chest. She wasn't the only one who had been betrayed, so had he. Wasn't she the pot calling out to the kettle? "Besides," he continued, "I'm still holding out hope that my country sticks to their principles and maintains its independence."

"Ahh Captain," Maria sighed, "I think both you and I know a little too much about lost hope to hang our prayers on a shooting star. In the end what's going to happen is going to happen, whether we want it to or not." How many falling stars had she wished upon to spare her husband's life? Countless, and still death came for him, just the same as it did for the Captain's wife. Hope was for fools.

Out in the hall they heard the children calling for them to come to the ballroom for the viewing. Liam and Lynn were both experts with their fathers' camera, knowing them they probably already had the film reel all set and ready to go.

"We'll finish this later." The Captain informed her as they began to take their exit from the room. "At 9 when your father in law contacts you." Stopping at Maria's questioning look the Captain squared his face with determined eyes, "If you and the children are in danger I need to know about it, I'm curious as to what the man has to say. I'm also curious to know how he found out about my commission."

"He's just over reacting Captain, probably to some bit of news that he read in the paper. I'm sure it's nothing." There was no way in hell that the Captain could be there when her father in law called tonight. Vilhelm never over reacted, if he had felt the need to send her a telegram, then something big must be going on. Whatever it was she was sure it had to do with the shipping business and there was no way that she was going to let the Captain find out about that. She had to stall him somehow.

"There's something that you're not telling me, Maria." He said putting his hand on her shoulder, stopping her in the now opened doorway.

"There's a lot that I'm not telling you Captain." She said meeting his concerned gaze. He was getting too personal; she needed to push him away, she figured being blunt might keep him at bay. "It's my life, Captain." He narrowed his eyes at her and she tried not to let the hurt she saw in them make her feel guilty.

"Yes, but it's my…" His thought hung unfinished in the air as his voice was drowned out by Liam, Lynn, and Brigitta running from the ballroom with Gretl on their heels.

"Mother! Captain!" Her boy shouted across the hall, in a half run, half walk with his little crooked leg carrying him on uneven strides. "We're all set and waiting for you." The children finished reaching the pair of adults who continued to stand in the open doorway of the Captain's study. Tearing their gazes from each other only for a moment to find out what the intrusion was, they looked back at the other, the Captain willing her to hear his unspoken last words. She knew damn well what they were, she was just happy that she hadn't had to hear them come from his lips. If she had, another wall would have come tumbling down that she didn't have the strength to rebuild right now.

Liam and Lynn landed in front of the Captain, while Gretl and Brigitta came closer to Maria, each girl grabbing one of Maria's hands. Smiling down at the boys beaming face, the Captain reached out and caressed his cheek, then did the same to his twin. Placing his arms around each of Maria's children, with one child on either side of him he guided them back towards the ballroom.

"All right children," the Captain said while looking at Maria with challenging eyes, "let's go see what you've got in store for us."

Stopping in the doorway, the Captain let go of Liam and Lynn while they scurried over to the camera to start the reel. Gretl and Brigitta pulled Maria into the room past their doorman of a father, who whispered is unfinished thought in Maria's ear as she was whisked past him.

"It's my life too, Maria."

For once in her life Maria was actually grateful for Bill's movies. At least it had gotten her out of the conversation with the Captain, though judging from the look on his face as he took his seat next to the Baroness, she could tell that it was far from over.


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 20

The Captain sat apprehensively waiting for the film to start. Too many questions swarmed around his head to fully concentrate on the goings on in the room. Vaguely he could hear Maria asking the children which film they had chosen for tonight's viewing. Upon hearing her children answer the one marked "Memories", Maria got a worried look upon her face, but the Captain was too absorbed in his own thoughts to recognize it.

Elsa was seated beside him and she comfortably rested her hand on his thigh. Shifting in his chair he looked upon the woman's face that he had had all intentions of making his bride at the beginning of the week. Try as he might he couldn't evoke the feelings that should be surging through him as it would be if it were the other lady in the room caressing his thigh. The touch, though suggestive in nature had no effect on him. It was as if a light book or something else of little significance was pressed against his skin. He could try and pass his disinterest off. He could make up a million excuses as to why he was unresponsive to the woman sitting beside him, but he knew that they would all be a lie.

Giving Elsa a reassuring smile he felt guilt ravage his heart. She was a good woman and had been a great friend to him for the past year. She had helped him come out of the darkness that had surrounded him since his wife's death. To continue to lie to her and foster the hope of a future together would earn him the award of biggest bastard of the year. He knew that now, sitting here, half listening to her small talk while his eyes begged Maria's to make contact with his.

Since this afternoon in his bedroom when he had let his hormones get the best of him and he had stolen the kiss from her he could think of nothing else but more contact with her. Even if it was only with his eyes, he longed to touch her again. The way she had felt in his arms, the feel of her lips under his, the taste of her, and the way her throaty moan had entered his mouth and sent fire throughout him. He couldn't stop thinking about it. If it hadn't been for his bruised ribs he would have given into his lust right then and there. Even a few minutes ago when they had argued over her telegram he had wanted nothing more than to push her up against the wall and have his way with her. Maybe then she would tell him all that she had held back in that conversation.

Damn that woman, he cursed. Why did she have to come into his life now and turn everything upside down? Three weeks ago he had a plan for his life. He had had it all mapped out. Marry Elsa, move to England if the Anschluss occurred, if it didn't stay in Austria settle in for old age with a good woman at his side. The plan was neat and simple, and then Maria arrived on his doorstep and his plan went to hell.

After reading her miss-delivered telegram he realized that since her arrival his plan had evolved. The funny thing was he hadn't even realized it until this evening. Now that he was thinking about it, he wasn't exactly sure where everyone had fit into place with his new plan, but one thing was for certain. The new chain of events that had formed in his mind had definitely included Maria and her children in his future. He wasn't exactly sure when it had happened or how it had happened, but he realized now that he had had no intention of ever leaving Austria without that miss matched trio included in his fold. The fact that Maria had been planning her own escape and she hadn't even thought of him hurt him more than he cared to acknowledge.

The lights dimmed in the ballroom signaling that Liam and Lynn were ready to start the film. They had set the chairs up in a semi-circle around the puppet theatre that Max had sent from town. The theatre itself was a rather large structure and with its white back drop pulled down it made for an excellent screen. This was another thing that Maria had unwittingly changed in his life. Three weeks ago he wouldn't have stepped foot in this room. The memories of his late wife in this room smiling and dancing had haunted him the most. He had dared not think of her that way for the pain had been unbearable. Now, however, a peace settled upon his soul when he thought of his Agathe. In his mind's eye he could almost see her here in this room with them, smiling upon her family's new found happiness. Maria hadn't only changed him, but she had made his children smile again. She had made them a family again and whether or not she wanted to admit it, for he could no longer deny it, she, Liam and Lynn were a part of their family now too.

Instead of having his eyes on the screen the Captain watched the object of his thoughts sitting three chairs away from him. She sat with her one leg thrown over the other, arm bent at the elbow resting her chin in her hand waiting with apprehension for the first scene to start. He could only imagine what it must be like for her to have to see her dead husband on the screen. From what she had said to him earlier in the day, he could imagine the pain she must be feeling right at that moment. What he wouldn't give to be the one that she turned to for comfort one day, was his last thought before the white on the screen flickered to a grainy image.

The image flickered a few more times and then steadied itself to show a man in a room filled with some sort of equipment that the Captain wasn't familiar with. However it wasn't the background that the Captain focused on, it was the man featured in the middle of the screen that he couldn't look away from. If Liam had been a little taller the Captain would have sworn that it was him in the black and white film. They had the same face, chin, eye shape. It was Liam in the future staring back at him. The man in the film smiled, the same smile that he had seen light up Liam's face a hundred times, and then began to speak.

"Maria," upon hearing her name from the lips of her dead husband Maria's eyes closed. The Captain could barely make out her features in the darkened room and yet he couldn't look away from her. When he did glance at the screen he saw that the image of Bill was focused directly on her. Their eyes met over space and time on the screen, almost as if Bill had known when he had made this film exactly where his wife would be seated when she viewed it. Chills ran through the Captains body.

"I'm glad that you are finally watching this film…"Bill faltered here, "Well I'm guessing that you are watching this if you are hearing these words. I didn't know how to tell you that I had started this project." He smiled sheepishly at the camera, "knowing how angry you'd be, I figured what you didn't know can't hurt you, right darling. Besides, you won't discover this until I'm dead, so I won't have to listen to your mouth when you do." He gave a little laugh and then looked away from the camera for a moment when he finally turned back to it there was sadness in his eyes, "I'm sorry darling, I know youhate to hear me talk like that, but, let's face reality, I'm living on borrowed time here."

The Captain let those words sink into his skull. If he understood this correctly Maria had known that her husband was going to die in advance. The Captain wondered what it was that had taken Bill's life.

"Anyway," Bill continued from the screen, "this film isn't for you. It's for our little bundle that will be arriving soon. The other night I had the most terrible dream. I dreamt that the baby was born and I was already dead. I watched the whole thing as if I was above you, I could see you, but you couldn't see me. Then I thought, this baby isn't going to know who I am. I wanted to leave something behind so that he or she can at least meet me once in his or her life."

Suddenly the door to the room that Bill was sitting in opened and in walked a young Maria. Seeing her on the screen took the Captain's breath away. She was younger, her hair was still long then and it cascaded down her shoulders into light curls. The same way that Lynn's hair did. As a matter of fact the Captain could see a lot of Lynn in the image of Maria on the screen. Her belly was swollen with child and when she walked she waddled across the floor. She must have been due when this film was made. The Maria on the screen noticed the running camera, rolling her eyes at it she turned regarding her husband.

"I'm sorry I rigged that thing to be automatic for you_." _She said to the quiet Bill who looked like he had been caught cheating on his wife. "You constantly have it running now. What are you doing anyway?"She asked looking around the room for some clue as to what her husband was up to.

"Nothing, just a project I'm working on." Bill gave the camera a frightened face as if it were his conspirator, "I thought you were home. Didn't the doctor say you should be on bed rest?"

"Bill, if you think I'm going to stay in bed for the next two months you have another thing coming." Maria answered him as she fell into his lap on the chair. Bill flinched from the weight of her, but Maria didn't seem to care. "Besides, sitting in the bed makes my back hurt. Walking makes my back hurt, everything makes my back hurt. I just don't understand why I'm so big." She stressed waving her hand across her big belly. "Mrs. Fontaine two doors down from us is nine months pregnant and she isn't anywhere near as big as I am at seven months."

"Everyone is different, darling, you know that." Bill soothed his agitated wife. Oh my, the Captain could remember those days when Agathe was at the end of her pregnancies. There was nothing that could make her comfortable.

"Maybe the doctor has the due date wrong." She whined.

Bill rolled his eyes at her, "Darling, you're the one who came up with the due date, and you're never wrong." Maria threw her head back and laughed at her husband's joke, playfully shoving him in the chest.

"That is true, I am never wrong."

"Ugg" Bill moaned, "and you never fail to remind me of it."

"That's true too." She said jokingly. Watching the two of them up there on the screen, the Captain was a bit disappointed. When he thought of Maria's marriage he thought of two young teenagers that had gotten in over their heads and had only married due to their circumstances. Watching the play between them it was obvious that his assumptions were wrong. You could feel their love palpating from the screen.

Setting his wife upright on her feet, Bill himself got up from the chair. "Alright, darling, let's get you home, shall we." In a grand gesture Bill put his arm around Maria's waist bending her backward as far as her big belly would let her go. Giving the camera a quick wink, Bill leaned over Maria and whispered, "Smile for the camera, baby," and then stole a kiss from his wife. The Captains heart sank. He hadn't counted on seeing this when he had encouraged Maria's children to show one of their fathers' films.

Bill walked over to what the Captain assumed was the camera and then the image on the screen went black for a moment. When it came back on Bill was in the same room with different clothes on.

"Sorry for the interruption," he said into the camera with a shy smile, "little bundle. That was your mother as you probably already know. And I'm sure as you are watching this you probably already know that she is a handful." Bill gave a little laugh, "But I love her." Then his face got serious, "you should know little bundle that I loved your mother more than anything in this world. And though I haven't met you yet, I loved you too."

"I'm getting a little ahead of myself here, and you're most definitely confused, so let me clarify. You see little bundle, you are about to be born. The problem is, at the same time, I'm dying." The Captain could hear Maria's breath suck in from her husband's last words. "I hope and pray every day that the good lord sees fit to let me live long enough to see your birth. But I'm worried that my prayers are all used up. I'm a year past the expiration date that the doctors gave me, so I'm not taking any chances here. I'm making this film so that later on in your life you could get to know the man that I was."

Moving over to the camera, Bill moved it so that it now faced a white screen. Hearing just his words but no longer in the picture Bill continued, "I wanted to start with some old reels that I took on a different camera when your mother and I were children. There's no sound on the old camera so I'll narrate the scene's to you." The Captain could hear Maria saying something from her seat, as she was about to get up, to do what, the Captain didn't know, suddenly Bill's face came large and close up on the screen, "Maria, don't you dare turn this off. I want the baby to know about our childhood." Maria looked at the image of her late husband on the screen who narrowed his eyes at her through the camera lens. Finally she stilled in her seat and he continued on. "Didn't I tell you that she was a handful?" Bill said from behind the camera again as an image began to show on the wall in the room that he was in.

"Shut up, Bill." Maria whispered under her breath from three chairs away from the Captain.

Ironically, as if he had known what his wife's reaction would be years in the future Bill's voice came over loud and clear through the projectors speaker, "No, I won't shut up Maria."

This sent all of the children in the room as well as Max and Elsa into a laughing fit. The Captain had thought that the film would be in English since it was their native tongue. He was surprised that Bill spoke in half German and half English. Surprised and a little grateful. Since his English wasn't coming along as fast as he would like, though his children seemed to be picking up on it quickly.

Bill fidgeted with the camera some more, bringing it closer to the image projected on the wall in his room.

"Thank you Julliard," he said as he settled into a chair to the left of the display, "for putting in this editing room. Little Bundle, did your mother tell you that both she and I went to Julliard?" He paused here as if waiting for someone to respond and then continued, "Well we did. I, of course enrolled when I was seventeen after receiving my high school diploma. My diploma was only a formality though, they immediately made me instructor of the pianists. Which was fine by me, since it gave me more time to study what I really love…cinema. Your mother applied when she was fifteen. She already had a degree from Marist by that time. Yes, that's right, Marist College. I think your mother graduated high school when she was about seven." He said with sarcasm, "She is smart as a whip, little bundle, so don't think you can ever pull a fast one over on her. She's probably already thought of every possible thing that you could get into." Again Bill paused, looking back at the camera he said with sincerity, "I'm sorry I won't be there to help you get over on her. What fun we could have had. There's nothing I love more than making your mother angry." Bill laughed and looked at the floor, "She's damn cute when she's angry."

Turning his focus to the screen before him, Bill began to narrate what they were seeing. The images on his screen were grainy and the Captain could tell that this film was much older than the one that they were now viewing.

"What do we have here," Bill asked, "Aww, yes one of my father's big Fourth of July parties." On Bills screen was a gathering of people by a large outdoor pool. The people were in clothes over two decades old. The Captain figured the film must have been made just post the Great War. "Those parties were always fun. It was about the only time that your mother and I got to be children. We would laugh and play all day. It was only on holidays that I didn't have to practice and your mother didn't have to study. Oh look, there we are in the pool," Bill took a pointer to the screen drawing everyone's attention to the two kids in the middle of the grand pool. They were both younger then, probably around Liam and Lynn's age.

"My goodness," Max said, "that looks like Liam and Lynn in that pool."

The young Bill in the pool with the young Maria kept dunking her head under the water. When he was done dunking her, she would come up for air and he would splash water in her face. From the expression of her face one could tell that the young Maria was getting very angry and after a vicious dunk she went under the water without resurfacing. The young Bill being oblivious as to what was about to happen to him churned the water keeping himself in place waiting for his victim to come up for air. Suddenly the boy began to twist around in the water as if something had him by the legs. A moment later a triumphant little Maria came to the surface twirling above her head what looked to be boy's swimming trunks. Swimming quickly to the exit of the pool Maria took her souvenir and ran across the yard. The camera remained focused on the Bill in the pool who was now yelling something over and over again. The Captain assumed he was yelling for her to bring his shorts back. Off in the distance the camera caught sight of Maria tossing the swimming trunks high up in a tree.

"Your mother and I didn't always get along." Bill laughed watching the memory on the screen. The scene flickered once again and now they were looking at an image of Maria and Bill a little younger than before. She was in a white, in what appeared to be wedding dress with a vale and he was in a suit. "This was our first communion." Bill clarified. The young Bill was talking rapidly into the camera and shaking his head back and forth vehemently. The young Maria looked like an angel standing there in her white dress with a bundle of flowers in her hands. Finally giving in to whoever it was that was ordering him to do something from behind the camera, the young Bill rolled his eyes and then leaned over kissing Maria on her cheek. Before he pulled away however, the little sprite pulled Maria's pigtail in a violent tug. This caused Maria to push the young Bill hard in the chest. In a matter of moments an all-out brawl broke out between the two young people. The scene ended when whoever it was behind the camera turned it off, the Captain assumed to break up the fight.

"Nope we didn't get along at all." Bill said.

The screen flickered once again and they were taken to a grand parlor room. Once again there was a young Maria and a young Bill in the middle of the room. Sitting at the piano was a lady with long dark hair.

"That's my mother," Bill said, the sadness in his voice evident. She died when I was thirteen." The lady smiled into the camera and the Captain could see that she had been a beautiful woman. The camera flickered over to a large man sitting in a corner chair in the parlor. His eyes were like ice. "Oh, Maria, I'm sorry darling I didn't know that he was in this reel. I thought I had cut him out of everything." Bill said into his own camera. You only saw the image of the man for a second, but in that brief period of time you could feel the evil coming off of him. Before the Captain had time to wonder out loud who the man was Liam beat him to the punch.

"Who was that man, Mother?" The boy asked.

Maria's eyes were frozen on the screen. The Captain couldn't see into them, but he knew that they were filled with fear from her body posture.

"My father." She replied, her voice dead and flat.

The woman at the piano began to play. The two children were shoved into the center of the room by Maria's looming father. Barely touching Bill, he rather roughly placed his young daughter into the spot he wanted her in the middle of the floor. Turning back to Bill's mother behind the piano he gave her a questioning look, with a nod of her head he turned back to his daughter and wagged his finger in her face demanding something of her. Little Maria looked up at her father with cowering eyes and nodded her head at the man.

Then Bill said the words that the Captain was already thinking in his head, "If the man wasn't dead already, I'd kill him myself."

The two children on the screen began to reluctantly dance together.

"What is that dance you are doing, Mother?" Lynn asked.

"The Laendler." The Captain replied for Maria. He had recognized the dance right away, for as a child he too was forced to learn it. Although, he didn't kick his partner in the knee's as young Bill was doing on the screen.

Bill gave a throaty laugh and then turned to his running camera, "I bet you are wondering right now why on earth you ever married me Maria." Looking back at his own screen he continued, "I guess I was pretty horrible to you when we were younger."

The screen flickered once more and now the two children were some years older. Although the years could only be a few, they both had matured greatly over that time. There was a sadness that lived in each of their eyes that stole the light that had been there earlier.

They were seated on a hill top, having a picnic. The camera swooped down the hill to the right and one could see a marvelous mansion nestled in a valley of rolling hills.

"That's the house where I grew up." Bill said. "The hill that we are sitting on right now was the divider between your mother's house and mine. We used to picnic up there all of the time with Aunt Adelaide after your mother came to live with us. She must be the one running the camera," Bill finished.

The camera was really focusing on taking in the landscape, but every once in a while it would turn on Bill and Maria. They sat closer than necessary on a blanket with the basket of goodies lying in front of them. Bill was nibbling on some bread, his eyes focused on Maria, who stared off in the distance at nothing in particular. She looked a shadow of herself, emotionless and lifeless. A few times Bill tried to engage her in conversation, but she simply shook or nodded her head at him. Letting out a frustrated sigh, he turned to the camera operator, and shrugged his shoulders at her.

"The reason I'm showing you this, Little Bundle," Bill said his voice filled with emotion, "is that once a long time ago your mother went to a very dark place. There were reasons for her journey there, reasons that I'll leave to her whether or not she wants tell you. But it took me some time to persuade her to come home again. I worry that after I'm gone that she will go back to that place, only this time I won't be here to bring her back."

From behind the grown up Bill a door slammed in the editing room that he was in. Entering onto the screen was the very pregnant Maria looking angrier than ever. She glanced at the glowing images on Bill's screen and then back to her husband.

"What the hell is this, Bill?" She yelled.

"Maria," he gasped running his fingers through his hair. The Captain felt sorry for the man. He himself had only faced half the wrath that Bill was about to get on the screen.

"Maria, what are you doing here? You're supposed to be home, in bed, resting! You never listen." She still doesn't, Bill, the Captain told the man on the screen in his head.

"What am I doing here? I think the better question is what the hell are you doing here?" She pointed in the direction of Bill's screen.

"I wanted to leave a legacy for the baby, you know, in case…"

"In case of what?" She asked, her fury evident in every word.

"In case I'm not here when the baby is born. I wanted him or her to know who I was."

"By telling him or her about my past?" She questioned, "How does my past have anything to do with your legacy?"

"Maria, it's not what you think. I'm worried about you. I worry that when I'm gone you'll…"

"Why do you have to talk this way Bill? You know I don't like to talk about it." She yelled her anger pitching her voice higher and higher.

"Maria, what's going to happen is going to happen, you can't hide from it."

"You don't think I know that Bill? You don't think I think about it every single goddamn day? But unlike you, I want to live the rest of your days with you and not worry about what will happen when you're gone. I'm the one being left behind you know!" She shouted into his face.

"And I'm the one who's going to miss out on everything. I'm the one who will never see our baby grow up. I'm the one who has to accept the fact that one day you'll find another and raise our child with him. My child will call another man Daddy." Bill slammed his fist down on the piano that took up the majority of the small studio room along with all the editing equipment. "Do you know how that makes me feel? The thought of you with another man! It drives me insane!" He screamed pushing his weight into the piano that flew across the room.

"Bill," Maria sighed taking his head into her hands, caressing his tears away, "I will never love another. You know that. There's only you, baby only you." She pulled a sobbing Bill to her kissing his cheeks his forehead, and finally his lips.

"No Maria," Bill said pushing her away from him so that he could look into her eyes. "I don't want that life for you. Promise me that you will forget me when I'm gone and move on. I don't want you to pine over me. I want you to be happy in your life. I can't rest thinking that I left you with a life of solitude."

"Oh Bill," Maria said shaking her head, "I can't promise you that. I don't think that I could ever love someone else."

"At least promise me that you'll try, Maria."

"I promise," she finally said just before the screen went black.

* * *

><p><em>Thank you all for the wonderful words of encouragement you have all given me thus far. I hope that you are all still enjoying the story. I had better hopes for this chapter, I was going to include a song at the end, but then I thought against it. I hope this didn't disappoint. It was supposed to give you some insight into Bill and Maria's past, though I'm not too sure I succeeded. I wrote this in a half stupor being hopped up on all sorts of prescriptions since my son felt the need to share his strep throat with me this week. At this point I'm not even sure what I wrote made any sense at all. Please let me know what you think.<em>


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

"I've seen enough." Maria declared from her seat in the ballroom, "Liam would you mind turning the projector off?"

"Yes, Mother." The boy moved without hesitation to perform the task that his mother had requested. The Captain assumed it couldn't have been easy for the children to watch their parents on screen agonizing over a chain of events that they had no control over. Hell, it wasn't easy for him to watch and he wasn't the subject of the agony. What must it have been like for Bill, the Captain wondered. To know that you were about to bring a new life into this world with your own days numbered. To know that you would be abandoning your family, that couldn't be easy for any man.

The mood in the room remained somber. All of the children were almost afraid to look at Maria. Well, the boys had been all night, but that was another story. One that he hoped he wouldn't have to tell Maria anytime soon. Liam and Lynn moved to start taking the projector apart.

"Children," he said, "you've had a long day, why don't you leave that until the morning?" Checking his watch he had ulterior motives for rushing Maria home. It was already a quarter past eight; he didn't want her to miss her phone call at nine. He was going to make damn sure that they were both there when that phone rang.

"I'll just put the little ones to bed," Maria said to her children. At the protest of his own older children that she didn't have to do that, Maria gave them all her, "don't make me angry" look, silencing them into submission.

"We'll help you, Fraulein." Liesl said swooping up Gretl into her arms. In turn Maria picked up Marta and the rest of his brood followed them out the door.

"Lynn, Liam," Maria called from the foyer, "aren't you coming?"

The Baroness ushered Maria's two children out of the ballroom doors. Their faces were ashen and sad, looking lost in a world of chaos. Placing an arm around each child the Baroness soothed her hand over their backs, "Maria," she said, "they look a little tired. How about I take them to the kitchen and see if Cook has a special treat for them to nibble on until you're done."

Maria looked over her two children from the stair where she stood waiting for them with Marta still in her arms. Meeting the Baroness's eyes, she whispered a thank you to the other woman continuing on her way. "I'll only be a moment, children." She called as she disappeared through the nursery doors.

Elsa looked down at the two little creatures that she was now hugging closely against her sides. Guiding them to the kitchen she gave each one a reassuring caress down the arms, while whispering something to them that the Captain couldn't hear. It was the first time that the Captain had seen her show any kind of affection or interest in any of the children since her arrival at the house. He might have been a bit taken aback by her behavior, if he hadn't remembered that Elsa's own husband had fought a battle against an incurable disease. Maria and Bill may not have been the only ones to have had that same conversation at some point in their lives. Maybe the Schraeder's had as well.

He was about to join Elsa in the kitchen when he was stopped by a solemn Max in the foyer.

"Georg," Max said, "Can I see you a moment?" He didn't have to be a psychic to know what his friend wanted to talk about. Following him into his own study, Max shut the door tightly behind them.

"I want you to leave her alone, Georg." Max said before they had even taken two steps into the room.

"Leave who alone, Max?"

"Don't play coy with me, Georg. You know very well whom I am referring to. She deserves better than what your plans are for her."

"And how do you know what my plans are?"

"Because we discussed it the other night in this very room." Max, who ordinarily faced every hard situation with humor, began to pace around the study. There was no humor in the man tonight the Captain noted. "Now look, Georg, I know this is your home and I'm just a guest here, but I like Maria. I like her a lot. She's a good person and I won't sit idly by while you work your charms on her. She's been hurt enough in life. I want you to leave her alone."

"I can't do that Max." The Captain said causing Max to throw his fists in the air in frustration. Maybe it was the film, or maybe it was this afternoon, or perhaps it had been the events that occurred after dinner in his study with Maria, but the Captain could no longer lie. It was time that he was honest with himself and his good friend.

"Why not, Georg?"

"Because I love her, Max."

TSOM

Seeing how tired Maria's two children were, the Captain had insisted that he drive them over to the cottage instead of them walking home. Maria had seen right through his plan, he was sure. However being the good mother that she was she graciously gave in to his demand. In just the two second drive down the road, Liam had fallen asleep in the back. Maria carried him to the door while the Captain with the still too sore ribs guided the sleepy Lynn. When they reached the door to the cottage, the Captain was surprised to see that the lock was broken and the door was ajar.

"What happened to the door?" He asked Maria.

"I don't know, it wasn't like that when I left this morning."

Rubbing her sleepy eyes Lynn chimed in, "Oh Mother I meant to tell you that we found the door broken when we came to get the films. As a matter of fact, it was wide open when we came here earlier. Liam fiddled with it to get it to latch but I guess it didn't work."

The Captain and Maria both looked down at the child, "And you went in, Lynn!" The Captain beat Maria to the chastising. "What if someone was in here?"

The girl got a confused look upon her face, "Who would be in here?" The Captain and Maria looked at each other, shaking their heads at the child's innocence.

"Whoever it was that broke the door Lynn." Maria said.

"Oh," she said as a dawning came over her face, "we never thought of that." In unison the two adults rolled their eyes and murmured, "Dear lord," under their breaths.

"Stay here with the children," The Captain said as he went into the cottage to check and make sure that whoever that was here earlier hadn't stuck around or come back. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he kept hearing the one statement from Maria's telegram over and over again in his head. "For your safety and the children's safety." He didn't know what was going on, but he wasn't leaving here tonight without finding it out.

Having checked all of the rooms, the Captain called the trio into the cottage. Following Maria to the bedroom off of the parlor, he stood in the doorway and watched as she readied Liam for bed. Lynn grabbed her nightgown and disappeared into the bathroom. He watched as Maria expertly stripped the boy down to his skivvies, jostling him to and fro, somehow not waking the child. Then she slipped his nightdress over his head buttoned the first two buttons and settled him in for the night. She did this within a minute and a half.

"That was simply amazing." The Captain complimented her when she was done.

"Well, I've been doing it a long time, Captain." She said, blushing from his gaze as he leaned comfortably against the door frame.

Lynn exited the bathroom, having finished her changing, and climbed into the bed next to her brother.

"Did you brush your teeth?" Maria asked her daughter as if on ritual.

"Of course Mother." She answered.

"Do you want to say our prayers together?" Maria asked sitting on the edge of the bed next to Lynn. She smoothed the girl's hair back away from her face.

"I'm too tired tonight."

"Oh, alright darling, sweet dreams." She kissed the girls forehead and moved to exit the room.

"Mother," Lynn's voice called, "why did you change the sheets again? These are different than the ones you put on this morning." The girl held the hem of the sheet up fingering the tooling, "remember, you put the sheets on with the blue edging because Liam had a fit when you went to put the sheets on with the pink edging. But look this is the pink sheet."

"You're right, those are different. Maybe whoever broke the lock came in and changed our sheets. They're the sheet bandit." The girl gave a little laugh, rolling over to let sleep claim her for the night. The Captain didn't find it funny at all. Though he did have a good idea as to who had changed the sheets, he only hoped that they were the same person who had broken the lock. That would let his mind rest for the night and put a more innocent spin on the situation. Devious, yes, deceitful, absolutely but innocent still the same compared to his original thoughts.

"Who would break into the cottage to change my sheets?" Maria asked him as they went into the kitchen.

"Maybe one of my maids came over and changed them, I'll check with them in the morning. Meanwhile, you should look around and see if anything is missing." Maria did a quick sweep around the cottage while the Captain checked the clock again. One minute past nine. The phone should be ringing any minute now.

Hastily returning to the kitchen where the Captain was waiting for her return trying to fix the lock on the door, Maria started ushering him out of the cottage.

"I'll fix that in the morning, Captain. For tonight, the dead bolt will been enough. No worries." She stood in the open doorway, waiting for him to take his exit.

Letting out a fake cough to buy some time, the Captain said, "I'm a little parched."

"Oh, forgive me Captain for being so rude; would you care for some lemonade?"

"Do you have to make it?" He asked as she scurried to the refrigerator.

"No, I have some already made."

"I'll have coffee then." He said walking into the parlor to await his chosen beverage. Taking a seat on her couch he could hear her murmur from the kitchen, "Alrighty then."

By the time she had finished brewing the coffee it was twenty minutes past nine. Maybe she hadn't been lying to him after all. Maybe her father in law had over reacted to something that he had read in the newspaper and he was now having second thoughts about it. Though that still didn't explain how he had known about the Captain's commission offer and his correspondences with the Third Reich.

He stood when Maria entered the parlor with two steaming cups of coffee in her hands. Taking the one offered to him he took a tentative sip of the hot liquid.

"Light and sweet, just how I take it." He said as he retook his seat with her now sitting beside him on the small couch.

"I've been here long enough to know how you take your coffee, Captain." She said shying away from him to the farthest side of the couch. The move wasn't lost on him and his heart sank a little in his chest.

He wanted to discuss some of the film with her. Two aspects in particular. The first being why she had went to the dark place that Bill had referred to in the film. He had a feeling it had something to do with her parents deaths, although seeing her father up on the screen he couldn't imagine why she would grieve for that man. The second and most important aspect that he was dying to bring up were Bill's final words to her in the last scene. In particular the part where he had made her promise to move on after he was gone. In reality he wanted to gather her up in his arms and declare his love for her and convince her to love him back, but he held himself in check instead. She wasn't ready for that yet. So he mentally flipped through the scenes in his mind and picked a part of the film that he thought she might not mind discussing.

"And why shouldn't you know how I take my coffee, Maria? I mean a woman who graduated high school when she was seven probably notices everything."

"Bill exaggerated that," she replied looking into her coffee cup, "I was technically nine when I finished all of the high school equivalencies."

"Oh yes," The Captain replied with sarcasm, "that makes a huge difference."

Maria laughed at his little joke. That's a good sign, the Captain thought.

"So are you like a genius or something?" He asked with trepidation. For some reason he sensed that this might not have been the safer subject after all. He began to wonder if there were any safe subjects with this woman.

Shrugging her shoulders with a blush on her cheeks and giving him a little nod, she placed her coffee on the table in front of them.

"Why are you embarrassed about that, Maria?" He asked her.

"I'm not embarrassed, it's –…" Her shoulders slumped down as she searched for the right words, "when people find out they treat me different. Like a freak of nature or something along those lines."

Leaning forward he brushed an errant strand of hair behind her ear, "Who treated you different? Your father?"

Maria let out a sardonic laugh, "No, he treated me like a trophy. With him it was always, do more, do better, achieve, achieve, achieve. I was never smart enough for him. But my mother, she didn't know how to handle it. Once it was found out, she didn't have much to do with me after. I think I intimidated her."

"Oh I see." The Captain felt for the little girl he had seen up on that screen tonight. Here she was all grown up, sitting next to him on this couch, now with children of her own, and yet the pain from her childhood was still prevalent within her. "Well," he said giving her knee a little push with his own, "It doesn't intimidate me."

That won him a smile.

"Enough about me tonight, Captain. Tell me something about your life. How about something from your years in the Navy? Oh wait," she said holding up a silencing hand before he could begin his favorite basic training story involving Max and a monkey. "First, why don't you tell me why the boys have been acting so strange around me tonight?" Uh ohh. The Captain had hoped that she hadn't noticed that.

"Uhh. Strange? Really? I hadn't noticed, Fraulein."

"Okay, now I know you are lying."

"What makes you think I'm lying?"

"Because you switched back to Fraulein from Maria. You only do that when you want to change the subject or have something to hide."

"Damn," he half cursed under his breath, "Bill wasn't kidding when he said you can't get anything over on you."

"That's right, and it's in your best interest not to forget it." She looked down her nose at him, "Now spill the beans or I'll poke you in your ribs again."

"Christ woman, you wouldn't?" He was only half kidding with her when he asked the question, but the look on her face told him that she was dead serious.

"Alright I'll tell you," he said just as her hand snaked out for a jab at his ribs, "but you have to promise that you won't get mad. Because it really wasn't my fault."

"I won't make a promise that I can't keep." Really, he thought and filed that bit of information away for the future. Hadn't she promised Bill that she would at least_ try_ and love another?

"Well then, I'm not going to tell you," he lifted his arms up to give her free access to her desired punishment area, "go ahead poke away."

Letting out a sigh of frustration for being bested she relented, "Alright, I promise, I'll try not to get mad."

"I'll settle for that then," he started his tale with a large intake of breath, "what happened was when the boys and I arrived at the farm today, there were these two horses in the outdoor coral next to the barn. And they were-you know-"he began nodding his head at her at this point, hoping that she could connect the dots. Of course with his luck the_ genius _wasn't getting his meaning. "You know -they were engaged in a physical activity." He waved his hands in front of her trying to coax his meaning into her mind without having to say the words, "A certain_ kind_ of physical activity."

He gave her a second to see if his meaning had soaked in. When her eyes grew wide and her mouth formed a perfect "O" he knew that it had.

"Of course the boys had never seen anything like that. And well, I don't know if you've ever seen horses mate, but it doesn't look pleasant for the female horse. Of course, Friedrich and Liam had already had a pretty good idea about sex and the act of it, but Kurt didn't. So he had the most questions. But Friedrich and Liam were mistaken that, you know, what they were seeing was how a man also takes a woman. So I had a long talk with them about it to clarify a few things." He said the last part of his statement as if in passing, sitting up and taking another sip of his coffee.

"You had the sex talk with my son?" She asked him a little bewildered.

"Yes, but, well someone had to talk to him about it. And I couldn't very well let him walk away thinking that what he was seeing was how a man and woman come together. So I simply explained a few things to them."

"Okay," Maria looked at him with quizzical eyes, "but what does that have to do with me? Why won't any of the boys look at me?"

The Captain had hoped that she wouldn't ask that particular question.

Rubbing the back of his neck he figured he should get this over with quickly, like taking a bandage off an opened wound.

"Well, Liam kept saying, "_my mother never did that_" and well…I had to explain to him that obviously you had otherwise he and his sister wouldn't be here. At the time they were still looking at the horses, so I think they got the wrong idea in their heads."

"Oh my God!" She exclaimed, "I never did it like…like that! No wonder they won't look at me."

"It's a boy thing Maria. No son likes the idea of his mother having sex. It's a little sickening really."

"Wonderful. I let you take the children for one afternoon and the damages will last a lifetime."

"They'll forget about it in a few days." The Captain said dismissively. Although the image of the time that he accidently walked in on his parents engaged in the very same activity still plagued his own mind at times. He hadn't been able to look at his own mother for weeks after that and if he had had a weapon of some sort he was sure he would have killed his father for doing that god awful thing to his mommy.

They spent the better part of the next hour swapping tales from their childhoods and adolescent years. Before they knew it, the coffee pot was empty and the little bird came out of the cuckoo clock to tell them that it was half past the ten o'clock hour. Obviously she wasn't getting a phone call tonight.

As if reading his mind Maria said with a sideways grin, "I told you it was nothing. My father in law has a tendency to over react at times."

Leaning his head in his hand that was propped up on the back of the couch, the Captain threw his most wicked grin at her, "mmm…Actually I'm kind of glad that he did, otherwise I wouldn't have spent this evening with you." She blushed again, avoiding his eyes. "This was nice wasn't it? I don't think we've ever had such a civil conversation before."

She smiled at him then, she had a beautiful smile he thought, she should show it off more often.

"Yes, you're right, this was nice." Bringing her eyes up to meet his she continued in barely a whisper, "I liked it." With her last word she bit her lower lip out of nervous habit causing his attention to focus on her mouth, her very wet and luscious mouth. Unconsciously his mouth gravitated towards hers. Why should she be the only one to taste that lip? Slowly he moved closer to her on the couch, pushing her farther away until she had no escape from him. She was trapped between his body and the armrest of the couch. She was his for the taking, but still he didn't move in for the kill. He let her process what he was going to do this time, giving her time to stop him if she wanted to. Inch by slow inch he moved so that he hovered above her body, cautiously bringing his face closer to hers. The pain in his ribs was excruciatingly noticeable from the position that he was in, but it didn't compare to desire that swelled inside of him. He would deal with the pain later right now he needed to feed his hunger.

She wasn't exactly encouraging him, but she also wasn't stopping him. Their lips were now only a gossamer width apart, as they were about to touch hers quivered beneath his staying slightly open. Whether it was to tell him to stop or if it was in acceptance of his advances the Captain would never know. For at that very moment a tiny voice sounded behind them.

"Mother," the voice said, sending the Captain flying back to his side of the couch. Taking a moment to catch their breath, the two guilty adults turned their attention to Liam. He was standing in the now opened doorway of the children's bedroom with his steely eyes focused on the Captain.

"I had a bad dream," the boy informed them, never taking his eyes off of the Captain.

"Oh darling," a flustered Maria said, standing up from the couch on very shaky knees, the Captain mentally noted. "I'm sorry to hear that. I'll tuck you back in." She said trying to usher the boy back into the bedroom.

"Aren't you going to walk the Captain out first?" He asked not budging from the door way, his death stare still drilling into the Captain's skull. "It's very late, you know?"

If that wasn't a hint, the Captain thought, then he didn't know what was. Today was probably not the best day for the boy to have observed this. He was going to have to do a lot of butt kissing with this boy to get back into his good graces.

"No need, Liam my boy, I'll see myself out. Maria, make sure you throw the dead bolt before you retire for the night." He said getting up from the couch before taking his leave.

"I will Captain," Maria replied, meeting his eyes before he exited the room, sharing a conspiratory smile as he turned to leave. However, that wasn't what put the spring in his step as he walked to his car, but rather it was the disappointed look in her eyes that gave him hope.


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23

Maria slapped out at the intrusive sound that was invading her much needed sleep at that moment. Flailing her arm around in the dark, she was only half into waking enough to stop the noise, until she remembered her sleeping children whose room was beneath her own. Not wanting to wake them at this ungodly hour, she sat up, found the alarm clock and shut the noise reverberating from it. Checking the time to make sure she hadn't slept through the first ten minutes of ringing, the clock face proudly stated 2:50. She refrained from throwing it across the room.

Normally all of this would have been an easier task to complete, but since finding out about the Captain's spy scope she had slept with her bedroom light off. It was the first time she had slept alone in the dark since Bill had passed. Though she did cheat a little by taking a flashlight into the bed with her, she hadn't turned it on so technically it didn't count. She cheered for her own bravery.

Reluctantly getting out of her bed, she picked her away through the dark to her bedroom door, shutting it behind her, thus blocking any view the Captain had into the cottage. Now she was able to turn the flashlight on so she wouldn't break her neck going down the spiral staircase to the kitchen. Pulling a chair over to the phone she patiently waited for its ring while trying not to fall back to sleep. Damn Vilhelm and all his cloak and dagger stuff. Although she did have to laugh thinking back to the Captain rushing her home tonight by 9 o'clock, and then stalling to be here waiting for her phone call. Little did he know that he would have had to wait six hours for that call. Vilhelm always used New York time in his telegrams to throw anyone off.

For a brief second she turned the flashlight back on to check the time on her wall clock. 2:56, she had four minutes to kill. Her mind, of course, wandered to the film that they had all watched tonight. The hardest part of watching any of Bill's films was seeing them together up on the screen and knowing that she would never actually see him in person again. She would never feel his arms around her, she would never feel his lips again, and she would never be able to have another conversation with him except those that were captured on those reels. They were a cheap substitute for the real thing and always after sitting through a viewing, there was a deep hollow feeling left behind that took weeks to cure. Sitting here and thinking about it, the feeling was definitely there, but so was something else. A certain something that she hadn't felt in a very long time. Try as she might she tried to focus her mind back to Bill, but even as she did so, images of the Captain sitting on her couch, relaxed and comfortable, laughing with her flashed through her mind.

She was eternally grateful to the Captain for not bringing up the harder aspects of the film tonight. She wasn't ready to discuss them and though she knew he must have been curious, he had been a real gentleman about the whole thing. Imagine that, the Captain a gentleman. Three weeks ago she would never have thought that those two words could belong in the same sentence together.

Along the same lines, three weeks ago she never would have imagined that she would be sitting on her couch willingly accepting his advances either. If Liam hadn't walked out when he did, Maria wasn't sure how far she would have let things go. Thinking back to her reaction to his kiss during the afternoon, her resistance would have been minimal. Why was it when he wasn't near her she could write an entire thesis as to why they couldn't come together? The main point of topic being the Baroness. She could go on and on for hours with supporting facts, diagrams and figures to support her theories. Then the Captain would come along and with just a look or touch he would blow her theories to hell, leaving her to start all over again.

This was supposed to be her children's last summer of fun in the country that they called their home. She had only taken on the job so that they could spend their last remaining season in Austria with their friends and enjoy the countryside before they left for America. She hadn't expected all of these complications when she had made her original plans. She definitely hadn't expected the Captain, and she certainly hadn't expected to fall in love. Wait-hold it right there- Maria chastised her wandering mind. She was about to have a stern talking with herself about the difference between lust and love when she heard footsteps outside the cottage door. Instantly she thought of the broken door latch and she immediately feared that whoever it was that broke the latch had returned.

Jumping off the chair she rushed over to the fireplace to grab the poker off of the tool stand. Misjudging her distance in the dark she ran directly into the wrought iron tool set instead, banging her knee against the unyielding metal. Crying out in pain as the stand with all of its hanging appendages clattered to the slate floor.

When the noise ceased Maria could hear the intruder pulling against the door handle, the deadbolt however stopped their advance. Feeling her way on the floor for one of the fallen fireplace tools, she heard a knock on the door. Do intruders usually knock? Then she heard her name being called from the other side of her wooden defense. Wait a minute-do maniacal killers usually call their victims by name before they break in and slit their throats? And why does he sound just like Vilhelm? Vilhelm!

Stepping closer to the door she whispered through the wood, "Vilhelm is that you?"

"Yes, Maria." Her father in laws voice said from the other side. Oh, this better be good Vilhelm or I'm going to kick your ass, Maria thought as she threw the deadbolt.

"What the hell was all of that noise?" Vilhelm asked as he stepped into the tiny kitchen. Though it was dark in the room she could see that he was still dressed in formal evening wear. Even at three o'clock in the morning Vilhelm was prim and proper. Unlike her who was in her normal sleeping attire.

"I thought you were a burglar." She whispered shouted in his face, "You scared the hell out of me."

"I do apologize for such a late visit, however, it was a necessity. The phone lines aren't secure. I couldn't take the chance of someone overhearing our conversation."

"It's fine," Maria said waving him into the room, shutting the door and latching the dead bolt behind him.

"Why is it so dark in here? Can't we turn a light on?" Maria let out a sigh. We could turn on a light, she thought, if your revival in spy abilities didn't live across the lake. Pulling the drapes across the kitchen window, she walked over to her table and lit the small candelabra there. That was all the light they could afford.

"My goodness, Maria," Vilhelm gasped once the light from the candles had illuminated the room, "what have you done to your hair?"

This again. Maria was growing tired of people's reaction to her hair cut. As it were now, she rather liked her hair short.

"I thought it was time for a change." She replied sarcastically.

"I see," Vilhelm replied while trying to fight the surprised and horrified look from his face, "and you jumped into that decision with both feet now didn't ya?" Humor at three in the morning Maria could live without.

Vilhelm finally took a seat at the kitchen table, but not before he surveyed the cottages tiny kitchen. "This is quant," he said in the same patronizing voice that Maria used when she didn't want to hurt any of the children's feelings.

"Yes it is. We rather like it here. Lynn and Liam are both enjoying their summer immensely." Maria wondered at what age she would have to stop defending herself to this man.

"Watching their mother slave as a servant?" Vilhelm asked incredulously. "I find that rather hard to believe."

"I am the von Trapp children's tutor, not their servant, Vilhelm."

"I don't know why you insist on putting yourself in these roles that are beneath you Maria. It isn't fair to the children to make them live," Vilhelm looked around the cabin with his nose up in the air, "in squalor. Especially when they can have the best of everything! It isn't fair to them, Maria, and it's disgraceful to the family." He ended his speech by slamming his fist down on the table.

"I should what, Vilhelm, raise them in that pompous world of yours where they will learn to look down their noses at anyone who makes an honest living? They want for nothing, they need for nothing. Just because they can have anything they want doesn't mean they should get it. We are simple people, living a simple life and we are all happy in it. Just because they don't live in a mansion with people serving their every need doesn't mean that I am abusing my children." Maria was sure that was the ten thousandth time she had made that very same argument to her father in law.

"If Bill were here," Vilhelm started but suddenly stopped when he saw the look on Maria's face.

"If Bill were here we would be living the same way. He and I had decided long ago to give the children a different childhood than our own. Centered around family instead of money and greed." The last bit cut a bit deeper than Maria intended but at three in the morning she didn't need another lecture from this man. "Is this what you came here for, Vilhelm, because if it is we could do this any time of the day."

Vilhelm shook his head and let out a weary sigh. Sitting here at her kitchen table Maria finally took in his appearance. He looked his normal regal and sharp self. His clothes pressed into perfection, his goatee trimmed with precision, his hair combed into submission. His square chin set in defiance, but it was his eyes that called her attention the most. His usual eagle sharp eyes looked weary and the bags that sagged underneath them caused Maria great concern.

"No, I didn't come to argue with you Maria." He reached out his hand and patted hers that sat resting on the table next to his. "A Father's worries don't end when the children leave the house. You'll understand that one day when Lynn and Liam are off on their own." Maria gave him a smile. In his own odd way Vilhelm had been more of a father to her than her own had ever been.

"We have a problem that I came to discuss with you." Vilhelm interrupted her thoughts before she could look further into them. "Three weeks ago a company contacted me about buying Gotthardbahn*. When I looked into the company I found out it's a shadow name for a company owned by the Third Reich. I refused the sale." Vilhelm paused here giving Maria's mind time to connect the dots. Their own company had built the Gotthardbahn tunnel to connect their railways through Switzerland. Not only was Kutschera von Helstin shipping prolific in the water, but they also monopolized the railroads. Whoever controlled the tunnel controlled the rails. If the Third Reich bought it they would monopolize the rails from Germany straight to Austria and Italy. The thought sent chills through her.

"You refused the sale, so what's the problem now?" Maria questioned her too silent father in law. She would have thought the problem was solved.

"Maria, the Third Reich doesn't take kindly to being turned down. The Anschluss is only weeks away from taking place, if we are still here when it happens they will take what they want by any means necessary. Do you understand what I am trying to tell you?" Maria's eyes automatically traveled to the wall that concealed her two sleeping children.

"They'll hurt us? They would hurt the children to get what they want?" She whispered the words too afraid to speak them out loud.

"Yes Maria. For once I am grateful that you changed all of your last names to your mother's maiden name. I was told by my friend at the Immigration Office that there was a formal inquiry made there about you and the children. Of course they had asked about von Helstin instead of Rainer, so they came up empty handed." Maria let out the breath that she had been holding. Thank goodness. "But don't think they will stop there. They have people in America too. Little spies who can walk into Immigration there and find you. It'll take them more time, but eventually they will string it together. I need to get you and the children out of here before that happens. Especially with you living on the grounds of and working for one of them."

Maria's back went up at the insinuation that Vilhelm made against the Captain, automatically she went into defensive mode, "The Captain is_ not_ a Nazi."

"My sources tell me otherwise." Vilhelm replied flatly.

"Then your sources are wrong, sir. The Captain was offered a commission and he told them that he would think about it to buy himself time to get out of Austria."

"He's also considering a position in the English Navy, so either, he's a coward who can't get off the fence or he's a Nazi spy trying to weasel his way into the enemies fold. Either way I have no respect for the man."

"The Captain wouldn't do that, he isn't a spy." Warning flashes were sounding off in Maria's head. Why hadn't the Captain mentioned anything about the position in the English Navy when they had spoken this evening? Why keep that a secret?

"So you're sleeping with him?" Vilhelm more stated than asked. Maria was too outraged to formulate an answer, giving Vilhelm more opportunity to speak, "You don't have to confirm it Maria. I already know, my guy saw you two today kissing in the driveway." Kissing! Maria screamed to herself, it was merely a peck and who the hell was this guy that had supposedly seen them. "And he saw the Captain leave the cottage late tonight."

"And that means that I am sleeping with him?"

"Well, it's the only reason I ever leave a servants quarters at such a late hour." Maria's mouth gaped open at her father in laws admission. Internally she cringed at the idea of her father in law engaging in that sort of activity. She guessed the Captain had been right. Children, no matter what age, didn't like the thought of their parent having sex.

"I am not sleeping with him Vilhelm, he is merely my friend." Except on those occasions when the Captain was shoving his tongue down her throat and trying to get up her skirt, then he was something else, though she didn't know what exactly. But she thought it better to leave that part out.

"And just who is this "guy" that you are referring to?"

"The new gardener. He's one of my men. I sent him to the Schrader house when I found out that you were going to be working for Captain von Trapp this summer. I had heard that he spent most of his time there, so I thought it best to have some eyes on him."

Maria rolled her eyes at her father in law. She could get angry for his butting into her life, but she knew from past experiences it would do her no good. Vilhelm von Helstin was a man of power, he answered to no one. He would simply shrug off her protests like a horse shoeing off flies. That is why his worries over the Nazi party didn't fall lightly with her. If Vilhelm was worried than the danger was real.

"When do you want us ready to leave?" She asked, defeated and exhausted.

"Two weeks time."

"But that's before the twins' birthday. It'll break their hearts if they have to leave before that."

"Broken hearts heal, Maria. With a lot less pain than broken limbs. Or…" Vilhelm shuttered at his unspoken thought, "you have heard of what they are doing to people with Liam's condition?" Maria nodded her head as a shutter ran through her own body.

"It's all true, Maria believe me. That man cannot possibly be human for what he is doing goes against all humanity. And he's only just begun." He stood from the table then, the shadows from the candlelight casting his features in a different light. He looked tired and drained.

"I'll contact you with the ship information once I get it. Be ready to leave at a moment's notice. The government if unstable it it's anything."

"What about Aunt Adelaide?" The question was out of her mouth before the thought had fully occurred to her. "If they can trace me and the children to you, they can surely trace her."

Vilhelm shook his head as his hand stilled on the door knob.

"I've already spoken to her about it. She's a stubborn old coot. She won't willingly leave."

"But we can't just leave her here; I mean what if they come after her?"

"It's already being taking care of. She'll be getting a letter of transfer from the Vatican itself. She's going to know that I did it, but it was the only way to get her out of Austria."

"She's going to be mad as hell."

"Well, better she be mad than dead." Vilhelm opened the door and stepped outside breathing in the balmy night air. "Watch who you trust Maria. Not everyone is as they seem." Maria didn't have to be a genius to know who he was referring to.

"He's a good man, Vilhelm."

"For your sake and the children's sakes I pray that you are right."

"Vilhelm, didn't Bill tell you that I am always right?" Vilhelm took his leave right after her gave her a low bow. Maria made her way back into the cabin, throwing the latch on the door with a little more force than she had earlier in the night. She even shook the handle, checking its security. Blowing out the candles she slowly went up the stairs. Suddenly the distance from her room and the children's room seemed miles away.

When she reached her bedroom her newly found bravery from earlier in the night had vanished. Throwing the light switch on, she didn't care who or what could see her. On impulse she went to her window, picking up Liam's binoculars she peered through them over to the von Trapp villa. He wasn't hard to find in the dark of night, his being the only window illuminated. Bringing the eye piece into focus she could see him through the uncovered window bending over his scope. Just knowing that he was there made her feel better.

She had a sudden urge to be closer to him. To feel his arms around her and tell her that everything was going to be all right. If anyone could make it right it was him. Longing to touch him, she placed her hand flat against the window. As if to answer her he repeated her actions from the other side of the lake. Standing there like that she knew she wasn't going to leave Austria without giving him her heart. The question was, would she be able to put the pieces back together once she left?

* * *

><p>*Gotthardbahn is the name of the private swiss rail company that's lines ran through the Alps to the Italian border. Wikipedia<p> 


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter 24

"Maria, this is perfect, simply perfect!" Max exclaimed looking over the sheet music she had just handed him. Sleep hadn't come easily for Maria after Vilhelm's visit. Finally giving up on the notion after an hour of tossing and turning in her bed, she had gotten up and written Max's song for the play. The tune and the words had been floating around in her head since the Captain had made his sudden departure from her couch. After she had put the words and music on paper, she convinced herself that it had nothing to do with her, she was simply fulfilling a promise that she had made to Max. Denial had gotten her this far, she wasn't about to give up on it now.

"Thank you, Maria." Max continued to gush. "The producers are going to love this. I have an appointment with them here at the villa tomorrow; I'm going to call two actors right now to do the new scene for them, including this song. If this doesn't get them to open their purses nothing will." Throwing his arms around her in a bear hug, he exclaimed, "I could just kiss you!" And then he did exactly that fully on her lips just as the Captain walked into the dining room.

Instantly his eyes narrowed and his jaw cocked to the side.

"I can't leave you two alone for a moment, can I?" His sneer was directed at Max, but Maria blushed all the same and looked at the floor.

"Oh Georg," Max began, "I was simply thanking the good Fraulein here for writing me the song of the century that's going to put my play over the top. They will have to produce it now."

"And exactly how are you going to thank her if you do in deed get the full backing of the producers?"

Max, being the jokester that he was wagged his eyebrows at Maria in a suggestive manner, causing her to chuckle from his brazen act. The Captain, however found no humor in it and took a lunging step forward in Max's direction. Immediately Maria moved in between the two men, stopping the Captain with a hand to his chest.

"Captain!" She exclaimed trying to call his attention to her instead of Max's throat. Max took a few steps back, his smile having faded from his face once he had realized his joke hadn't gone over too well.

"Georg, I am only joking with you, for goodness sake." He held his hands up in front of him in a defeated manner. "I wouldn't do anything to compromise our good Fraulein here," he said placing a protective arm around Maria's shoulders, "you of all people know that."

The two men continued their stare off with Maria now off to Max's side. She wasn't quite sure who won, but the argument came to an end as the Captain took his seat, "I had forgotten Max that you had fashioned yourself into the Fraulein's would be champion." Maria wasn't sure what all of that had been about, and she didn't have time to decipher it as the children along with the Baroness filed into the dining room for the morning meal.

The Captain stood as Elsa took her seat, bending down and giving her a small peck on the cheek. From her end of the table Maria could feel a slow burn start in the pit of her stomach.

"Sleep well, darling?" He greeted the Baroness. Darling? Really? She wanted to scream. You spent most of the day yesterday trying to get into my pants and you're calling her darling in front of me? So this was how it was going to be between them? Her, he would lock in a closet and use for his every whim, but the socially acceptable Baroness he would dangle from his arm for all of the public to see. The picture that was beginning to form in her mind she didn't much care for.

The children too squirmed from his actions. They made no bones about their disproval of their father's affections towards the Baroness, half of them groaning in their seats, while the other half looked to Maria for help. Everyone that is except for Liam who was still giving the Captain the evil eye from what he had observed the night before.

The Captain must have felt the two burning holes that Liam's gaze was boring into him, for he turned and gave the boy one of his charming smiles. Liam didn't flinch. Meeting Maria's eyes across the table the Captain implored her for some help; however he was only met with a similar stare from the boy's mother.

"I slept like a baby," the Baroness droned on, "after such a strenuous afternoon yesterday; I was asleep before my head hit the pillow." Strenuous afternoon? When had sitting on the veranda become a strenuous activity? Maybe she had worn herself out lifting her lemonade glass to her mouth, Maria mused.

The Baroness went on and on about her favorite subject, the dinner party, while the Captain feigned interest, and the rest of the table tried to ignore her. The children inhaled their food as fast as they could.

"We're all finished, Father, may we be excused?" Friedrich asked not waiting for his father's response and stood from the table. Eight more chairs screeched across the floor as their occupants hurriedly exited them.

"I suppose," the Captain said a little bemused by his children's behavior. "I've never seen you children so eager to start your studies."

"That's because Fraulein Maria makes studying fun, Father." Liesl said.

"Yes, we love Fraulein Maria." Louisa piped in, "She's the best teacher there is." Okay children, Maria thought, you don't need to put it on so thick. She knew what they were doing, and though she was flattered she wanted no part of it.

The Captain chuckled at the girl's overzealous appraisal of their tutor. Maria wondered if he knew as well what his children were up to.

"Yes well, since you put it that way then I can understand why you are all so eager. Fraulein Maria is quite wonderful."

Maria's head snapped to attention at the Captains compliment. Wonderful, you say, she wanted to scream. I am wonderful? Yet here you sit with your hand on top of the Baroness's closer than need be and flirting with me at the same time? You can't have your cake and eat it too, Captain, she wanted to tell him. Instead she simply walked out of the dining room without even acknowledging him.

"Liam," the Captain stopped her boy as he was about to leave as well, standing and taking him by the arm he continued, "We haven't had a swimming lesson in the past few days. How bout we start back up today?"

"Nah, I think I'll help my mother with the lessons." Liam answered him.

"Oh, all right then." The Captain replied with a fallen look upon his face.

* * *

><p>After three hours of study, the last being an hour long review for the test that the Captain insisted Maria give the older children each Friday, the children declared they wouldn't read or conjugate one more word. Maria couldn't blame them, she had worked them hard today and they deserved a break. Going around the room they discussed what their options were for the day. There were many disagreements on what activity they would be doing, but they all agreed that no one wanted to have lunch at the villa.<p>

The only way to escape that was to go on a picnic in the mountains Louisa decided for them. They had a half an hour before the doctor was to return to remove Liam's stitches giving them just enough time to get everything ready. Maria left the children upstairs to do just that, while she went down to tell the Captain their plans and to help the cook prepare the picnic lunch.

Reaching the Captains door, Maria was almost knocked over by Frau Schmidt who seemed to be in a rush and more than a little flustered.

"I wouldn't go in there if I were you," the old woman warned her, "he's got company." She said sneering the last word and rolling her eyes. "They want refreshments." She finished in a sarcastic tone. It took Maria but a minute to conclude that the so called "company" had to be none other than the Baroness. She could only imagine what it was that they had been up to behind the closed study door to require those refreshments. Her imagination ran wild as she fought hard not to thrust threw the door catching him in the act. The slow fire that had started at the breakfast table in the pit of her stomach turned into a flaming ball of fury.

Last night she had been all too ready to give herself to this man. He had been so caring and supportive, but it had all been a lie. She had somehow mistaken his charm for something else, like a giddy school girl with her first crush. Christ, she had even written that stupid song for Max because she couldn't stop thinking about him.

Angry, she placed her hand on the door handle, but before she could make herself open the door and confront him and the Baroness, she realized that she had no right to be angry. _She_ was the other woman, not the Baroness. If anyone had a right to be angry it was the Baroness. Suddenly the fire inside of her was put out with a sickening feeling. How the hell did she get into this mess?

With her hand still on the handle, she was unexpectedly thrust forward as someone on the other side pulled the door open, causing her to stumble right into Max. Max! Relief washed over her. This was the Captains company?

"Fraulein," Max exclaimed. "I was just coming to find you and here you are like a gift from heaven itself." Maria stammered something beneath her breath as Max steadied her on her feet. Peering over his shoulder into the Captain's study she saw two other men sitting on the lounge that occupied the middle the room and the owner himself placed behind his desk. The Baroness was nowhere in sight. Now she felt stupid.

"Gentlemen, this is Maria Rainer, the song writer." Max walked her over to the two well-dressed gentlemen who now stood on their feet to greet her, "Maria, these are the producers of my play. They've come a day early." He explained while meeting her eyes in a plea for help.

"It's a pleasure to meet you," the stouter man of the two took her hand and grandly kissed the back of it. The action and the sentiments repeated by his taller partner.

"We have a meeting in Vienna tomorrow afternoon," the stout man explained, "so we came a day early to see what Max had in store for us."

"We've looked over your song, and we think it'll fit perfectly in the play." The tall one continued.

"But we'd like to hear it first." Suddenly Maria knew where this was going and she didn't like the looks of it.

"And you shall, gentlemen." Max promised placing his arm around Maria's shoulders. Maria's eyes darted from the gentlemen to the Captain, back to Max who gave her the cat that ate the canary grin. Oh lord, she thought, there is no way I'm singing this song.

As if on cue, Frau Schmidt returned with a tray of refreshments.

"Frau Schmidt, we will be taking our drinks in the parlor. Would you please show these gentlemen the way?" Max turned to the pair and with a wave of his hand indicated that they should follow the woman, "Gentlemen, we'll meet you in a moment." He waited for them to leave and then turned to Maria, "Maria please, they surprised me today. I am totally unprepared for this. Please, I'm begging you, please perform the song for them. My future relies on this."

"But Max, it's a duet. I can't perform a duet by myself." Max gave her a sheepish look and then turned his gaze to the Captain.

"That's where he comes in." Max said nodding his head in the Captain's direction.

"What?" Both Maria and the Captain exclaimed at the same time.

"I don't know the song, Max." The Captain proclaimed while vehemently shaking his head at the notion, "and I don't sing, so it's out of the question." Oh thank goodness, Maria thought. It was bad enough to have to sing the song in front of people. It would be a nightmare to have to sing it with the Captain. Calm down Maria, she soothed herself; he doesn't know why you wrote it. He thinks you wrote if for the play. He doesn't need to know that you were thinking of him the entire time and it just happened to fit into Max's play.

"You have a lovely singing voice, Georg." Max persuaded, "And you owe me, a thousand times over do you owe me."

The Captain let out a defeated sigh. Oh no! Why does it look like he's changing his mind? Please Lord, she begged, don't let him change his mind.

"Let me see the music." The Captain relented while Maria internally cried. Why Lord, why do you punish me so?

The Captain read over the sheet music. After a moment his eyebrows raised and he looked upon Maria whose cheeks glowed crimson.

"Well this is interesting." He stated in his most satirical voice.

"It's for the play." Maria informed him, brushing off his questioning look.

"Sure it is." He replied.

Max looked down at the floor letting out a low chuckle. Both Maria and the Captain shot him a warning look.

"Let's get this over with," Maria said leaving the room with the two men following right behind her.

"Oh and ahhh, do you two think you can dance while your singing the song?" Max questioned them in the foyer way.

"You want us to dance too?" The Captain asked incredulously.

"Nothing big, you know, just do some twirls, a little box step. Like the middle part of the Laendler. You both know the Laendler right?"

"Yes." They both mumbled under their breaths entering into the parlor.

"Wonderful." Max declared taking his seat at the piano and motioning to Maria and the Captain to occupy the middle of the floor.

Suddenly the room seemed rather small and the two men sitting on the couch like a sea of people. Her mouth went dry as she tried to still her mind by concentrating on remembering the words that she had written. Had she have known that she would be forced to perform this song with the Captain while his arm was snaked around her back and looking into his eyes, she never would have put the pen to the paper.

The first notes sounded on the piano as Max began to play, stopping Maria from running out the door as she had been planning in her head.

"I can't believe we're doing this." The Captain said through his wicked grin that was plastered on his face. Maria suspected that he was secretly enjoying this.

"Neither can I." Maria replied just before the Captain began to sing his first lines.

_I want to watch you undress_

_I want to watch you glow_

_Let your hair down all around_

_And cover us both_

The Captain started to slowly move her around the floor at this point. Locking their arms together he lifted one set up and over their heads and the other set behind Maria's back. She couldn't look at him while he sang his next lines, keeping her eyes glued to the lapels of his jacket instead.

_You come in waves_

_We crash and we roll_

_You surround me , pull me, drown me_

_Then swallow me whole_

The next part they sang together, though Maria's usual strong voice wavered on the first few notes.

_You turn, turn, turn_

_Turning me on_

_Like a slow fire burn _

_I know that's its wrong_

_Still I run, run, run_

_Run right into you_

_Yeah I run, run, run_

_Run right into you_

While the music continued to play, the Captain took the time to twirl her around and then pulled her even closer to him, slowing their footsteps more as Maria's part began. She wasn't sure if the words were going to come out as he now started a slow hypnotic rhythm starting from his hips.

When she did start to sing, her voice was a few octaves lower than usual and the huskiness in it added to the sensuality of the song. The room closed in even smaller around her.

_You pull me in close_

_You buckle my knees_

_I shake and I shiver _

_Just to feel you breathe_

_You trace my lines_

_I trace your lines(the Captain repeated her line)_

_Stirring my soul_

_Shoot sparks at the heart of the world and I watch it explode_

Before the Captain sang his next line he placed a finger under her chin forcing her to meet his eyes.

_I watch you, I watch you(the Captain sang over her)_

They started the chorus again, this time with their eyes locked onto the other. Somewhere between the last twirl and the Captains hand running down her side Maria forgot that there were other people in the room with them. It was just her and him, the music, and the words.

_You turn, turn, turn_

_Turning me on_

_Like a slow fire burn _

_I know that's its wrong_

_Still I run, run, run_

_Run right into you_

_Yeah I run, run, run_

_Run right into you_

_I'm amazing when you're beside me _

_I am so much more(the Captain)_

He lifted her arms high above her head, running his fingers slowly down the length of them as she sang her next lines.

_And I feel your fingers_

_Pound like thunder_

_And I am so much more_

Locking one set of their arms again behind Maria's back with their other set high above their heads, the Captain set them in the slow spin like the end part of the Laendler as they sang the last part of the chorus together. Their bodies were so close she could feel his words tickle her face as he sang them.

_You turn, turn, turn_

_Turning me on_

_Like a slow fire burn _

_I know that's its wrong_

_Still I run, run, run_

_Run right into you_

_Yeah I run, run, run_

_Run right into you_

_Still I run, run, run_

_Run right back to you*_

Maria wasn't sure how long they held the pose after the music stopped, or exactly when their feet had stopped moving. It wasn't until they heard the Baroness say, "What a lovely couple you make," that they finally released the other and acknowledged the other people in the room. When she did look around Maria was surprised to find that their audience had greatly increased at some point during their performance. Not only had the Baroness come into the room but so had all nine of the children. Eight of which looked thoroughly thrilled by their parent's performances, the ninth one looked as if he was plotting a murder. The Captain's murder to be precise.

When Maria's eyes did meet back with the Captains, the look she saw in them scared her half to death. She could only hope that he couldn't see into her soul as she could see into his at this exact moment. Lust she could deal with, passion she could contain, but love was entirely out of the question.

* * *

><p>Hoped you liked it. I just love that song and I somehow wanted to fit it into the story. Hope it's not going over board!<p>

*Run by Matt Nathansen

Lyrics and Music written by: Matt Nathansen and Sugarland


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter 25

"Thank goodness it's a short drive into town," the Captain said as he parked the car on the street across from the Abbey gates. Maria groaned in approval at his statement as she opened her door and lifted Liam off of her lap.

After their grand performance, Maria had rushed out of the room informing the Captain of her and the children's plans for a picnic that day. Somehow during the time it took her to prepare their lunch with the help of the cook, it had been decided that the Captain would be joining them in their excursion.

Liesl had whispered to Maria as the doctor took the stitches out of Liam's head while he was sitting on the Captains lap that Baroness Schraeder had insisted that their father tag along with them all today. Liesl had told her that the Baroness had used guilt on the Captain, telling him that he had promised the girls an afternoon with them.

Maria had thought that it was odd that the Baroness would encourage the Captain, but then again, Maria thought most of what the Baroness did was odd. What was even odder to Maria was the fact that her son, who had been shooting daggers all morning at the Captain had actually reached for the man's hand when he saw the doctor enter the foyer. The Captain had smiled at the intimate touch, looking down at her son's hand in his own, and then giving the boy a reassuring squeeze and a wink.

"It'll be alright, little man." The Captain had told Liam, leading him back into the parlor so the doctor could remove the stitches. He then took a seat and gingerly picked Liam up and placed him on his lap. "I'm right here with you, son."

Maria had to laugh at the scene they had all created in the parlor. Brigitta and Lynn had stood on either side of the Captain while he held Liam in his lap. They had looked like two sentries with their arms crossed and eyes fixed on the doctor, daring him to mess up. Friedrich and Kurt took their places along either side of the poor man, whose instrument shook a little in his hand from the scrutiny that he was under. Both boys looked ready to pounce if so much as a whimper came out of their friend's mouth.

Even Max and the Baroness had gotten in on the game. Max had stood back up to Brigitta while the Baroness stood behind Lynn with a calming hand on the girls shoulder. Maria had been off to the side with Liesl and Louisa flanking her sides and Marta and Gretl standing in front of her. Liam may have asked for the Captains assistance, but his eyes were locked on his mothers and every time the doctor pulled a stitch out, Maria's heart broke a little more as she watched her boys eyes flinch with the pain.

When it was all said and done, Liam had jumped off the Captains lap, proclaiming that it hadn't hurt a bit. The family had gathered around the boy and ohhed and ahhed over his new scar. Louisa had told him that he looked mysterious with it making Liam blush. Maria was starting to suspect that her boy may have a slight crush on her.

Of course before the doctor had left, Maria had insisted that he examine the Captain's bruise. She wanted to be sure that her original assessment of no broken bones had been accurate. Although she had to practically shove the Captain into his study to allow the man to do the examination. It was a relief when the two men finally came out, the doctor giving the Captain a clean bill of health.

Dr. Fassbinder, as Maria would learn was his name in the driveway while she waited for the Captain so that they could leave for the picnic, was actually a rather intelligent man. Contrary to Maria's original opinion of him she found out through their short conversation. He was young, maybe just a year or two older than she was and had only been in practice for three years. He was also new to the area having recently moved to Salzburg from Linz in the past three months.

"So, yours are Liam and the one girl?" Dr. Fassbinder had asked her as all the children had piled into the Captain's car.

"Yes, that's right." Maria had replied as she situated the children into some sort of seating order. Everyone older than fourteen was going to have to have a child on their laps. Except the Captain, who was driving.

"And the rest are…"

"The Captains," she had finished for him.

"Oh," he scanned the number of children left, "and you are.."

"Their tutor." She had replied.

They had continued to make small talk, although it was rather laborious as all of the children kept interrupting them. Though he had somehow managed to find out that she was indeed single and had thought that he might have asked her for a date if it hadn't been for the Captain coming out of the house when he did.

The Captain had bid the doctor farewell and then walked Maria to her side of the car, opening the door for her.

"Making friends, are we?" He had asked as they rounded the bumper of the car.

"We were just talking Captain."

"Just talking, I see," He said as he reached around her to open the car door, then he leaned over and whispered into her ear, "I didn't like it." He purposely pronounced each word slowly and clearly. His tone was dark and possessive sending shivers down Maria's spine.

You didn't like it? She wanted to scream at him. She couldn't have a civil conversation with a man without him getting jealous but she was supposed to sit back and smile while he ogled over the Baroness at every meal? How was that fair?

Now they were outside the Abbey unfolding themselves from the crowded car. Maria had decided it best to drive into town, leaving the car, while they hiked the rest of the way up the mountain. She had hoped that she would also have a chance to talk to her Aunt while they were in town.

Giving instructions to the children to go over to the fruit stand and pick some things up for the picnic, she couldn't help but notice a ruckus going on over at the Abbey gates. Two men, dressed in suits, were standing outside of the gates demanding entrance.

Liam, noticing that one of the nuns on the other side of the gates was Aunt Adelaide, raised his hand in greeting starting to run in that direction. He probably wanted to show his Aunt his new scar.

"Aunt…" Maria quickly covered his mouth and stopped him from greeting their Aunt remembering Vilhelm's warning from the night before. The action didn't go unnoticed by the Captain, who had been keeping his attention on the two men.

Coming down to her confused son's level Maria tried to explain away her actions to the boy.

"Liam, I believe Aunt Adelaide is busy. We'll have a visit with her later. Why don't you go with Liesl and everyone else to the fruit stand?" Liam reluctantly nodded and followed the rest of the crowd down the street.

Once all of the children were headed in the right direction, Maria quickly crossed the street to see what the problem was. In the middle of the busy road she stumbled, when an arm reached out and steadied her, keeping her from tumbling onto the pavement, she realized the Captain had joined her.

As they got closer to the other side of the street, Maria could hear what the men were saying.

"We just want to know where he is, lady. That's all. Now let us in." The one man was saying to her Aunt. While the other much larger man rattled the doors of the gate.

"As I told you gentlemen, I do not speak with my brother. I have no idea where he is."

"Lady," the larger man stopped his battering of the gates doors and opened his suit jacket. Maria and the Captain were now only steps away from them and she could see the butt of a gun sticking out of the man's pants. "All we want is some information then we'll leave you alone."

Aunt Adelaide whispered something to Sister Anne who was standing by her side. The Sister took off back into the Abbey courtyard, probably going to call the police. Maria was surprised to see Aunt Adelaide keeping her cool. She wasn't one to take being threatened lightly. Maria half expected her Aunt to reach her arm through the gate and smack the man upside his head.

The Captain stopped Maria's approach with a hand to her forearm. Giving her a look that said "stay back" he approached the two men alone.

"Reverend Mother," he greeted her Aunt through the gate with a nod of his head then turned to the two men that he was now standing beside, "Gentlemen, is there a problem here?"

The larger man having taken in the Captain's uniform quickly buttoned his jacket back up. If they were who Maria suspected they were, members of the Nazi party, they had no authority in this country yet. Being caught threatening a member of the church wouldn't do well for the popularity of their organization. They were trying to win the people's affection, not scare the crap out of them.

"No, no sir, no problem," the little guy said, "We're simply requesting an audience with the Reverend Mother."

"Well, the Reverend Mother is a very busy woman. Maybe you should make an appointment and come back another time." The Captain spoke to the man, never breaking eye contact with his larger partner who possessed the gun.

After a few tense moments of silence, the larger man smiled and nodded to the Captain.

"Perhaps you're right," he finally said motioning to his friend to leave. Looking into the gate at Maria's Aunt the man continued, "We'll make an appointment and return." He said it with the friendliest tone; however the look on his face was anything but friendly. Maria's stomach clenched into a knot she didn't want to think what would happen if they returned.

They stood and watched the two men get into their car and pull away from the Abbey. When the car was finally out of site, the Captain turned to her Aunt.

"Are you alright?" He questioned her as she opened the doors for them.

"Yes, yes I'm fine. It'll take much more than two brutes to scare me, Captain."

Stepping into the Abbey courtyard, the Captain took another look down the street, presumably checking to make sure the car hadn't circled back around. Distractedly he asked Maria's Aunt, "What is it that they wanted?"

"They wanted to know the where a bouts of," she stopped herself before her brother's name rolled off of her tongue. Glancing in Maria's direction she corrected herself as she continued, "my brother."

"What did you tell them?" Maria asked her.

Her Aunt let out a haughty laugh, "I told them the truth that I don't know where he is. Because believe me if I did I'd be paying him a visit myself." Uh—ohh Maria thought. She must have already received her transfer orders.

"Aunt Adelaide, it's for the best." Maria tried to soothe her agitated Aunt. All she got for her efforts was the death stare.

"For who's best? His? I'm not doing this with him anymore Maria. My entire life and yours has been ruled by what this man has thought was the best for us." Her Aunt threw her arms up in the air in frustration. Maria had seen her Aunt loose her temper before, but not to this magnitude.

"How can you be so forgiving of the man?" Her Aunt questioned her, shaking her head back and forth disbelievingly. "He watched your father unravel into insanity and left you in that house when we all begged him to step in. Everyone knew what your father was capable of and he did nothing to stop it. Because he wanted to protect the company."

Maria looked over to the Captain who was taking in her Aunt's entire tirade. She tried to pull her into a more private setting but the old woman wrestled her arm away from Maria.

"Aunt Adelaide, no one could have guessed what my father was going to do. Not even my own mother. If anyone should have stopped him it should have been her." Maria closed her eyes at the memory. She couldn't go through this right now with the Captain watching her.

"He's brainwashed you, Maria." Her Aunt let out a defeated sigh. "You make excuses for the man that stole your childhood. He used you to get what he wanted…heirs."

Maria let out a frustrated groan.

"He didn't use me for anything, Aunt Adelaide! Bill and I went to him after the diagnosis, he didn't come to us. How many times do I have to tell you that?" Maria could hear the children returning from the nearby vendor. She didn't want Lynn and Liam to overhear any of their conversation.

"Aunt Adelaide," she whispered nodding her head in the direction of the noise that nine children tend to make, "this is different. He's only trying to protect the ones that he loves. He didn't ask for this situation, it fell into his lap. Please, I'm begging you, do what he asks of you." Maria grasped both of her Aunts hands in her own, "Where are they transferring you to?"

Her Aunt rolled her eyes, "To an Abbey in Stowe, Vermont. I leave in less than a week."

Maria let out a slow smile, "Vermont, heh? I bet the children will love it there." When her Aunt raised a questioning eyebrow at her Maria finished, "wherever you are, Aunt Adelaide, is our home." The two women hugged as the Captain let the gaggle of children into the courtyard.

Lynn and Liam ran over to their Aunt both children wrapping their arms around the woman. The rest of the children gathered around them and the nine proceeded to tell her Aunt about Liam's stitches removal and the Captain and Maria's performance that morning. While everyone was distracted the Captain pulled Maria by the elbow away from the crowd.

"I would ask you what the hell is going on, but I know I won't get a straight answer out of you." The Captain said bent into Maria's face. "I can't make you answer me, but what I can do is make you move into the main house with us, which you will be doing when we return home."

"Captain, that isn't necessary. The children and I are in no danger."

The Captains eyes got wide and his jaw clenched down in anger, "You are on sacred ground, Fraulein, don't lie to me. As long as you are living on my property you are my responsibility. This isn't up for argument. You and the children are moving in."

"Captain," Maria said in a calming voice, "you don't understand. They can't trace me or the children to my father in law. I changed our last names. It's better if we leave things the way they are so as not to call attention to us. Moving us into the house will only raise questions. Are you sure where all of your household staffs loyalties lay?"

"Why would you change your last name?" He asked her.

"Why would anyone change their last name?" She answered him back with a question of her own. She wasn't ready to tell him the entire truth, but maybe this would be a good start when she finally did.

"Because it's too recognizable?" He guessed. Instead of answering him she simply raised her eyebrows at him. "Who the hell are you?"

Maria let out a sigh; she hated this part of her life and wished she could somehow erase it from her existence. She had put an ocean between herself and it, but still it followed her.

"I'm still Maria Rainer, simple and plain, Maria Rainer. That's all I want to be." She stated shaking her head and looking down at the ground, "Unfortunately along with me comes a little chaos."


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter 26

"Now what are we going to do?" Friedrich asked as the group stood around the picnic blanket watching the passed out Captain snore. He had one hand crooked behind his head in a make shift pillow while his other splayed across his chest.

"How can anyone sleep like that?" Brigitta asked handing Maria the unused linen napkins to put into the basket.

"I knew we should have left a half an hour ago. Now look, we're going to have to wait for him to wake up. That could be another hour." Kurt whined while he rubbed his feet next to his sleeping fathers form on the blanket.

The children had played hard all afternoon long and the Captain right along with them. His bruised ribs hadn't slowed him down one bit as he played catch with the boys and tag with the entire gang. Maria had been waiting for the Captain to get hurt again, but it was Kurt who came up lame with blisters all over his feet. It seemed the boy had outgrown his shoes and neglected to tell anyone.

"Aww Kurt, those feet look horrible." Maria slipped her own shoes off which were soft and more than slightly worn making them nice and wide, "put my shoes on." She told the boy, while the other eight children laughed at his predicament. "If you all walk down that hill over there," she pointed in the direction, "there's a little brook. You can soak your feet in the water, that'll help with the swelling."

Kurt continued to look at her shoes as if they were the most repulsive things on the face of the earth.

"Fraulein Maria," he whined, glancing in his older brother's direction, "I can't wear girl's shoes."

Maria rolled her eyes at the boy, men and their pride she thought.

"What's worse Kurt, swollen feet or wearing woman's shoes for five minutes?" She asked him. He thought hard for a moment, finally shrugging his shoulders and slipping the shoes on.

The nine children set off, with Liam and Friedrich helping Kurt as he limped his way across the meadow.

"Liesl, Louisa, watch the younger ones in the water, please." She called after them, the two girls waving their hands in acknowledgement of her request. "Just get your feet wet," she called after them. The entire group of nine turned back to her all of them with a satirical laugh shaking their heads at her last request as if it were the most ridiculous statement ever made. Why did she think they were not going to listen to her?

Checking her watch, Maria noted the time, ten after four. Like clockwork, she thought as she watched the sleeping Captain. The man falls asleep every day at four o'clock. She wondered if he regulated every aspect of his daily life like he did his naps.

Quietly she packed up the rest of the picnic supplies, folding the other blanket up; she leaned over the Captain and gingerly replaced his bent arm with the material. As stealth as she tried to make her movements, his eyes still fluttered open.

"Hmmm.." He murmured still half asleep, "Why is it so quiet?"

She couldn't help but laugh. Of course he would notice the absence of noise that nine children can make even when they are trying to be quiet.

"Shush, go back to sleep" She whispered over his face smoothing the stray hairs away from his forehead, "I sent them down the hill to the brook so you could nap some more."

He murmured something that she couldn't understand in his sleepy state and then moved to stand back up. She didn't get very far, however, as the Captain grabbed her by the mid-section pulling her down onto the blanket next to him.

Rolling them both onto their sides he snuggled close to her back, pulling her into him, sliding his knees up behind hers. They were a perfect fit. Taking her hand, he twined their fingers together and brought their joined arms around her front locking them together. When she tried to move out of the embrace he tightened his grip, pressing their joined arms against her chest so that she couldn't move.

"Stay with me." He whispered into the back of her neck, it was more of a demand than a question, and Maria wondered if he meant just for his nap or something else.

As much as she wanted to think that it was wrong, she couldn't help but feel how right it felt. Leaning into his strength she felt surrounded, warm and safe. For a moment she let herself believe that she wasn't alone in this world allowing the rhythm of his breathing to lull her into a sense of peace.

Relaxing into his cocoon, she let her mind rest for the time being. Slowly the circles of thoughts swirled into silence. For now she wouldn't worry about the threats or the move or her Aunt's and children's safety. For this peace of time she wouldn't scrutinize why the Captain hadn't told her that he was joining the English Navy. She would forget that back at the villa there was another woman that actually belonged in his arms. And she would stop fretting over how she was going to handle waking up each morning in two weeks with him on another continent.

Instead she focused on the moment. How his muscles massaged into her back with each breath that he took. How his exhale tickled the skin on the back of her neck and sent shivers down her spine. How his hand fit perfectly into hers resting innocently in the valley between her breasts and how his heart beat matched hers singing along to the rhythm of the nature that surrounded them.

"This is what I missed the most after Agathe passed." The Captain whispered behind her breaking the silence between them. "Waking up with her beside me and knowing that we had another day together. Had I known those days were numbered I would have appreciated each one more."

Maria let the silence fall back upon them. She wasn't quite sure how to respond to his confession. This was the first time the Captain had ever expressed his feelings to her over the loss of his wife and she suspected the first time that he expressed them to anyone.

"When Bill was sixteen he was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor." She finally said, figuring the best course of action was to confess a little herself. "His father took him to France where he underwent a new procedure, but that only bought us a little time. The doctors had said at best he had two years to live. We decided to live as much as we could in those two years, that's why we married so young. We didn't have the time to wait."

The Captain pulled her in closer to him as if he wanted to shield her away from the pain of her past. Placing a light kiss on the back of her neck he whispered into her ear, "You were so young Maria, and so brave." His words gave her the courage to continue her confession.

"The doctors underestimated him though, he lived another five years, and I appreciated each and every extra day we had together. Still, I would cut off my right arm just to have one more day with him. To hear his voice and his laughter, to be able to tell him about our children." She took a deep breath here before she continued, "That's what I missed the most after he was gone, not having anyone to share all of the children's accomplishments with. And all the worries that come along with them."

They both let out a melancholy chuckle at that. Children are wonderful, but along with all the great aspects of being a parent, it's the worry that the parents endure on their own.

Silence once again surrounded them, both lost back in their own memories of the ones that they created new lives with. Oddly enough the silence wasn't unsettling but welcomed and serene. In a way to Maria it was nice to talk to someone who knew exactly how she felt without having to tell them. Although different circumstances had brought both of them to this state, the outcome had been the same.

"I suppose," the Captain once again began the conversation, "that no matter how one loses their spouse, we're never truly prepared for it."

"No," she agreed, "we're just left behind to live with the pain."

"Not just the pain, Maria," he said nuzzling his nose into the base of her neck, "but also to find the courage to move on and let go." He raised himself up on his elbow, pushing her body down flat in the room that his absence made so that she now lied beneath him forcing her to look upon his face. Her one leg was twined between his two as he hovered just over her, smoothing some stray hairs back behind her ear.

Bending over he placed a chaste kiss upon her lips. "You make me want to let go, Maria." He whispered as his lips played against hers looking for some sort of compliance. "Until you crossed my threshold I cherished the pain, I fought moving on with tooth and nail. I used my grief to shield out the rest of the world, but you've healed me. Let me do the same for you."

He was dragging his lips all over her face, claiming each freckle for his own with feather light kisses. How she wanted to give in to him. To get lost in every sensation that his touch and words promised her. To let go of the pain that had been caged in her heart for years and to let it feel life and love once more, but still she held back.

"Come with me to England." She hadn't expected this plea from him as she lay in his arms. Her heart gave a little jump at the thought that he didn't want to lose her as much as she didn't want to lose him even if she knew that his request was impossible.

"Go with you to England?" She questioned him pushing him off of her so that she could look into his face. "And what? Wait on the shore side by side with the Baroness?" He physically winced when she brought up the Baroness, again making Maria wonder if he had forgotten about her. "Or will I have to stand in the shadows? While both of us pine over whether or not you're going to return from the sea? That doesn't sound like anything I want to do."

"The sea?" He repeated in confusion. Maria could see the surprise on his face that she knew about his intentions with the English navy, but she didn't care.

"How did you know?" He asked her figuring out the answer when she raised her eyebrows at him. "How the hell did your father in law know?"

"He's a very connected man." She answered.

He sat up running his fingers through his hair, his frustration visible in every line between his eyebrows. He looked vulnerable and lost, completely unlike the stoic man she had met her first day at the villa. Unable to look at him in this state, knowing that it was her that put him there, she got up and continued packing up the picnic belongings.

"I didn't ask for this to happen, Maria." He spat looking away from her. "I had my life all figured out until you walked into it. I was going to marry Elsa and join the English Navy. Put some meaning back into my life. It was regimented and ordered, and then you came along and turned everything upside down."

How dare he accuse her of turning his life into a state of chaos? It was he that was doing the turning, not her.

"Well, don't worry about that, Captain." She countered back in anger at his accusation, "You'll have your regimented life back in two weeks after I leave."

"Two weeks?" He said a little more than bewildered, getting up to his feet. "You're leaving in two weeks?"

"That's right." She reassured him, turning from him to grab the blanket that he had just vacated.

Suddenly he grabbed her by the arm twirling her back around to him yanking her against his chest.

"Like hell you are." He yelled and Maria was sure that they could hear him all the way back at the villa.

The argument would have gone further if it hadn't been for the children cresting the top of the hill, their laughter drowning the Captains next words in his throat. Pushing her away from him before the nine pairs of eyes could spot them, his final words were a whispered threat, "We'll talk about this later."

* * *

><p>When they finally reached the villa, Maria needed to just get away from everyone for a few minutes. Again in the driveway after all of the children had filed into the house she and the Captain had argued over her moving into the main house for the next two weeks. And again she reassured him that it was safer for them to remain in the cottage instead of drawing attention to themselves.<p>

Unwittingly they had argued in whispers all the way from the driveway, through the foyer, and were at the veranda doors when Franz had come to her rescue informing the Captain that he had a long distance phone call. Shooting the Captain a victorious smile she headed out the back doors and towards the cottage.

With great relief she found the cottage door still shut tightly and locked. With Liam's help she had rebuilt the inner workings of the lock this morning; the only problem was now whenever the door shut it automatically locked behind them. Countering that problem she had hid a key under one of the cobblestones in front of the door.

After using the key, she replaced it in its hiding spot and stepped into her kitchen. All was quiet in the house and she let out a sigh relieving some of her tension. How long had it been since she had quiet during the day? Months, maybe years. Feeling assured that her children and the von Trapp children could handle getting ready for dinner on their own today; she let the call for a nice hot relaxing bath lead her up the stairs to her bedroom.

Stripping out of her days clothes, she wrapped a towel around herself and readied the tub. Letting the water run a minute, she adjusted the temperature to extremely hot and searched her bathroom for her lavender bath salts. She wasn't surprised to find them missing once again as Lynn had grown a penchant to them in the past few months. Turning the water off she headed down the stairs annoyed at the delay this had caused, reminding herself to get the girl her own bottle.

Her mind was in a daze as she made her way through the house to the children's bedroom. There were so many unanswered questions swirling through her brain, she couldn't even focus on one to resolve. How was she going to tell the children about the move? How was she going to convince the Captain to let her take his children with her? Whenever she thought of this it lead to her wanting him to come along too, and she knew that he would never do that. Even if he did agree to it he would definitely refuse after he found out about her parentage, so why should she even try?

Plus there was no point of trying since he had already told her of his plans to marry the Baroness. When she remembered him saying this, the tight fist that had been in her belly reached up and wrenched her heart. She had fought back the tears that had wanted to fall when he had said it, but now as she reached her children's bedroom door a single tear escaped and trailed down her cheek.

Arguing with herself for being so weak, she wiped the tear away, and marched through the bedroom. Had she not been so lost in her own thoughts she may have seen the two sleeping forms in her children's bed as she made her way to the back of the bedroom to the bath that occupied it. It wasn't until she was at the foot of the bed and about to enter the bathroom that a slight movement under the blankets caught her attention startling her. Letting out a high pitched scream she awoke the two sleeping occupants of the bed causing them to sit upright, emitting screams of their own.

When everyone had run out of breath an eerie silence fell upon the room as the three undressed people tried to figure out what the hell was going on. It took Maria three looks upon the two different faces to recognize the Baroness and the Adonis gardener occupying her children's bed. Not only were they in the bed, they were both butt naked under her children's bed sheets. Maria was the first to break the silence as her biggest thought escaped her lips.

"My children sleep in that bed!"

The two fornicators looked at each other in surprise. The Baroness formed a face at their faux pas.

"We thought this was your bed," she said by way of apology.

"And that makes it better?" Maria yelled, as the Adonis was getting up out of the bed wrapping her children's sheet around his mid-section. She would have to burn it now, was all Maria could think.

"I always change the sheets, Maria." The Baroness explained as she wrapped the children's bedspread around herself also vacating the bed. Oh lord, Maria thought, there is going to be a bonfire of bed linens tonight on the lake. All who would like to attend may do so free of charge.

"Countess," the Adonis referred to her by her old title. Maria's family had long ago dropped the rank from their name after their move to America. There was only one family that had worked for Maria's father for generations that had always referred to them by their nobility title. The last having died the same night as her parents, he had been the head of their security, and in her father's way that night. It hadn't been only Maria's family that her father had destroyed.

"Please," the Adonis continued in English searching out Maria's eyes. When Maria actually settled her gaze upon them she was startled by their familiarity. The last time she had looked upon those very eyes they had been lying on her father's parlor floor with a dead stare coming from them. "Forgive me for this."

Remembering what her father in law had told her the night before about the gardener being one of his men, Maria slowly began to connect the pieces together.

"Daniel?" Maria questioned the gardener, recalling the man as a boy some fifteen years earlier. The last she had seen him he was a teenager at his father's funeral, frail and thin, nowhere near the mammoth man he was today.

"You remember me?" He asked beaming a smile at her. It was an awkward situation, standing here in her children's bedroom the Baroness naked under her children's bedspread, him naked under her children's sheet and her naked under her wrapped towel as they made their re-acquaintance. If they had been on a city street she would go to hug him, however, right now she thought better of it.

"I work for your father in law now," he said and then added as if she wouldn't know her own father in law's name, "Mr. von Helstin."

Groaning inwardly at being ousted in front of the Baroness, Maria shot the silent woman a look.

"It's alright Maria. I already knew who you were." The Baroness walked over next to her lover who placed his arm around her mid-section, drawing her close to his side, "Daniel already told me everything before we came to Salzburg."

"Oh," Maria said, finally turning ten shades of red at the situation they were in, "so this has been going on for…"

"Awhile," the Baroness finished for her. "What can I say," she shrugged her shoulders, "it was love at first sight." The two lovers shared a knowing smile with each other for a moment forgetting Maria was in the room. Continuing to stare into each other's eyes the Baroness went on, "I am so grateful that Vilhelm sent this wonderful man to spy on me." They shared a chuckle between them and Maria began to wonder if she should give them some privacy, when she remembered the Captain. Wasn't the Baroness supposed to be in love with the Captain?

"What about the Captain?" Again Maria's thoughts came out in voice. The Baroness let out a slow sigh and hung her head low.

"For a long time I knew that I loved Georg," the Baroness began to confess, "he is a good man, but it wasn't until I met Daniel that I learned the difference between loving someone and being _in_ love with someone. I never felt like this before, not even with my husband. I was going to tell Georg when he came to Vienna, but then we needed to get Daniel here to you so…" The Baroness trailed off leaving Maria to put the rest of it together.

"Oh my God," Maria moaned loudly, "you need to tell him." Here it was Maria had denied her feelings for the Captain for many reasons the most prevalent one being the Baroness. And here was the Baroness romping around in her children's bed with another man. The whole thing was absurd when she thought about it.

"I know, I will, I just couldn't break his heart." The Baroness said as they all turned to a sound coming from the kitchen.

The three of them stood silent focusing on the sound, Daniel with his arm outstretched in a protective manner across both women.

"Maria." When they heard the Captain's voice coming from the kitchen six eyes became as wide as saucers.

"Oh no!" Maria whispered, "It's the Captain."

"Thank you for clarifying that, Mrs. Obvious," the Baroness said low into Maria's ear.

Shooting her a look, Maria wondered out loud, "How the hell did he get in here?"

"Probably the same way we did," Daniel said, ushering the Baroness towards the bathroom, "with the key under the cobblestone." Pushing the Baroness into the bathroom and handing her the clothes that he picked up along the way he finished, "that's really high security there, Countess."

"Stop calling me that." Maria whispered in annoyance. In a panic she looked around the room. There were clothes scattered everywhere. Helping Daniel pick up the garments, they began throwing them through the door narrowly missing the Baroness with each one.

"What are we going to do?" The Baroness kept asking over and over again.

"Maria, go out there and talk to him." Daniel instructed, "Keep him away from here."

"I'm in a towel."

"Well that should keep him distracted!" The Baroness said right before she slammed the bathroom door shut concealing herself as they heard the Captain enter the parlor room. In a panic, Maria and Daniel started to turn in circles looking for any remaining clothes, both of them taking off at the same time towards the closet, it being the only remaining place to hide. Tripping over each other they tumbled to the floor, with Daniel landing on top of a now very naked Maria, who had lost her towel somewhere along the way.

Crushed under a very heavy Daniel, with just a thin sheet as a barrier between their two naked bodies, Maria turned her head towards the bedroom door where she spotted two polished shoes standing in the threshold.

"What the hell is going on?" She heard the Captain shout, the force of which rattled the bedroom windows.

"Uh-oh," were her last words right before she passed out.

* * *

><p><em>First let me apologize for taking so long to post this update. Right now is swim competition season, so I basically live at the pool. We have practice 5 nights a week and swim meets 2 days a week, so I'm at the pool every day for at least 3 hours a day since my children have two different practice times. Thank goodness after the end of this week we are done for the season, so bear with me.<em>

_Second, I had written this chapter three different times, (Sorry to TSom who beta read one of my versions and loved it, I just couldn't go with that version just yet)_

_Third, I apologize for any spelling or grammatical errors, I had no time to go back and re-read it again, so if there is any please over look them I just wanted to get something posted._

_The Move to Mature is coming either the next chapter or the one after that so be on the lookout._

_Thanks again for reading and please do review. They really help and mean a lot to me. Even if you don't like the story, you could tell me what you'd like to see!_


	27. Chapter 27

Chapter 27

_The room was dark, the only light coming from the crack in the door. Under her bed Maria focused her eyes on the slight glow holding onto it like a beacon in the night. She had heard the gunshot from down the hall and then her father's laughter right before she crawled under her hiding space. She had wanted to run and see what had happened but she remembered her mother's warning from earlier that night. Her mother, who hadn't tucked her into bed since Maria could remember had come to her room and told her to hide if she heard anything out of the ordinary that night. _

_Maria's heart stopped as her bedroom door opened, pouring light in from the hall. She could see his polished shoes standing in her threshold, even without seeing his face she knew exactly whose shoes those were. Walking into her room, the heels of his shoes clipped against the tile of her bedroom floor sending an eerie echo throughout the room. _

"_Come out, come out wherever you are." He sneered, the drink evident as he slurred his words. Lately her father's speech sounded like that from morning until night. Maria never saw him without a glass of the golden liquid in his hand or the evil in his eyes. _

_He was walking around the bed now, leaving a clear path for Maria towards the open door. She could hear him rustling through her closet, believing him preoccupied she made her escape scrambling out from under the bed. _

"_There you are, you little bitch!" Her father yelled as she reached the door frame, her shaking legs slowing her escape down. There was a loud bang behind her and a bright flash of light. Before she could figure out what had happened would splinters from the doorframe peppered her face as she ran down the hall. _

"_Come back here, bitch." Her father called behind her as his footsteps became louder in her ears on the marble tile floor. Running as fast as she could in bare feet, Maria tripped over the hem of her long dressing gown and fell to the floor. Her knees cracked against the hard tile and she cried out in pain trying to scramble back to her feet as fast as possible. Before she could get away her father was upon her, fisting the back of her dressing gown in his hands tightly around her neck, choking her. Lifting her high up in the air this way, Maria could feel the material of her dressing gown's collar cut into her skin, her eyes began to bulge as all oxygen was cut from her. Bringing her close to his face, the smell of the whiskey burned her eyes as her father whispered in her face, "You'll always be mine, little bitch."_

Maria woke with a start, coughing and gasping for breath, her hand automatically going to her throat pulling the invisible material away from it. Still in her panicked state, Maria didn't recognize the voice coming from the man that was trying to soothe her. Jumping from the chair he had been occupying at the side of her bed, the man came and sat next to her trying to still her frantic hands.

"Maria," he said, "it's all right, it was only a dream." Slapping at the intruder, Maria crouched away from his touch as far as she could on the small bed.

"Get away from me," She yelled as she pushed his hands away once more.

"Maria, it's me, Georg….the Captain." The Captain? Maria's brain finally began to focus when he said his name. The Captain, it repeated over and over again. The Captain won't hurt you it said to her as her hands stopped forcing his body away from her. Bringing her attention to her intruders face, she recognized the familiar chin and square jaw now peppered with a shadow of stubble. She ran her thumb across his lips, those lips that had kissed her just a few times but whose touch she would never forget, until finally she found his eyes. There she found what she could never find in her nightmares.

A safe harbor.

"Captain?" She whispered.

"Yes, it's me Maria. You're safe. Nothing's going to hurt you." He soothed as he ran a hand down her tear stained cheek. Taking her hands that had been pressing against his shoulders to push him away; she wrapped them around his neck and pulled him against her, releasing the rest of her tears into his neck.

"Don't let go." She whispered into his skin, drinking in the smell of him.

"I won't," he promised as he laid them both down onto her small bed in a more comfortable position. Maria couldn't tell how long they lay like that or exactly when he had left her arms. But when she opened her eyes next, the room was bathed in darkness, the middle of the night having settled upon them and he was once again resting in the chair next to her bed.

This time sleep had left her peacefully and she was a little more aware of her surroundings. She was upstairs in her own bed at the cottage. As the memory of the previous afternoon flooded her mind, she mindfully reached under the blanket and discovered she was now clothed.

"Elsa." She heard the Captain say through the darkness. She hadn't realized that he was awake until he had spoken and in the confusion she didn't understand what his statement meant.

"What?" She asked for clarification.

"After I carried you upstairs, Elsa dressed you."

Her cheeks glowed red from his meaning. If he had carried her up the stairs before Elsa had dressed her that meant-she didn't want to think what that meant.

"So I was naked when you brought me up here?" She wanted to mentally slap her forehead as her mouth asked the words that her mind was too afraid to speak.

The Captain cleared his throat and wiped lint off of his pants that he couldn't possibly see in the dark of the room. However dark it was Maria could clearly see that his busy hand sported a new white bandage around it.

"Well, no," he said to his pants, "we had wrapped you in a sheet first."

An image of Daniel wrapping his naked body in her children's sheet ran through Maria's mind.

"Was it the sheet that was on the floor?" She asked almost afraid of the answer.

"Ahh..yes, I believe so."

"I need to go take a shower." She moaned and did a little shake at the thought of what might be on her body now.

Attempting to get up the Captain pushed her back down on the bed.

"Excuse me," She said and was about to tell him that she was a big girl and if she wanted to get out of the bed she would when he silenced her with his hand.

"The doctor was here again, while you were out." He said now precisely picking lint off the crease of his pants, "he said the bump that you received from your fall was insignificant. And that you probably were suffering from exhaustion brought on by stress."

Not this again, she thought, as she wondered when he was going to bring up what had happened in the children's bedroom after she had blacked out. Judging from the bandage on his hand, she figured Daniel hadn't escaped without a black eye. And he had mentioned the Baroness, so she must have come out of the bathroom at some point.

"That's ridiculous," she said remaining momentarily in the bed, "I'm not exhausted, I was simply a little shocked at finding…"she paused here trying to find the best possible means to approach the subject, "well you know what I found."

"Yes," he replied speaking in the hushed tone he had been using since they had started the conversation, "I was a little shocked myself." At first she thought he meant that he had been shocked to find his intended had spent the afternoon with another man, but when he raised his eyebrows at her and thinned his lips she realized he meant at how he had found her.

"You know that was an accident, right?"

He raised his bandaged hand while rubbing his forehead with his other, "I do now." He spoke and she could hear his own exhaustion in his voice.

"You didn't kill anyone did you?"

"Not completely. Elsa came and saved the poor lad before I really did any damage." He said leaning into her from his chair that sat right beside her bed and for moment she wondered why he had left her after she had fallen back to sleep. It had been years since she had slept so peacefully and though she wouldn't admit it to him she missed the comfort of his arms around her.

"Do you want to talk about it?" She asked pushing her intruding thoughts to the back of her mind.

"No, I don't." He replied, then gently pushed her head back down onto her pillow, "I want you to go back to sleep."

"I need to check on the children," she protested trying to throw the covers off of herself. Whenever she had a nightmare, which more and more was every night now, she couldn't rest until she knew the children were safe.

"Shush," He soothed stopping her movements with a hand to her abdomen. "You don't need to go anywhere to check on them. Look to your side." He nodded his head and she followed his movements, there beside her in her bed, nestled against the resting wall was Lynn, sound asleep.

Turning a puzzled look back to the Captain, he waved his hand at the floor beside him, "Liam, Kurt, Friedrich," he said pointing to dark mounds that decorated the floor between her bed and the other twin bed that occupied her room, "Marta and Gretl in the other bed," she looked over and saw two sleeping heads tucked together resting comfortably across from her. "Brigitta, Liesl and Louisa at the foot of your bed. We originally told them that you had a fall here at the cottage and you were staying in tonight to recover. After dinner they all came to check on you." He nodded his head toward the sleeping Liam on the floor, "Liam wasn't too thrilled to find me in your bed, but the way."

"I don't suppose he was." She chuckled imagining the look on her son's face at that moment.

"I explained that you had had a nightmare. Lynn told us that you always slept with them after you had one, so all the children decided to stay to keep you company. Even if I had tried I couldn't have stopped them."

Maria looked around the room once more, her eyes filling with tears.

"They love you, you know." The Captain spoke what her heart felt. She nodded her head and as the tears finally spilled over he gently wiped them away, "We all do."

Meeting his gaze, Maria was secretly glad that the dark of the room hid her true feelings. Why did he have to be so forth right when it was all she could do to keep fighting her feelings?

"I love them too." She said, not missing the pain that crossed his features from being left out of her omission.

Grabbing her hand and wrapping his strong one around it, he brought the back of it up to his lips, gently kissing the skin. "Whatever it is you are running from, whatever it is that scares the sleep from you- talk to me, let me help you. You don't have to do this alone, Maria."

Sighing, she let fresh tears fall down her cheeks.

"I wouldn't know any other way, Captain."

_I know this is a short update and I do apologize for it. There's more to this chapter and I hope to have it up by the end of the weekend._

_Thanks again for reading and all of the wonderful reviews._


	28. Chapter 28

Chapter 28

The next day had dawned and when Maria opened her eyes she was surrounded by nine eager and hungry children with the Captain missing in action. The strong smell of burning bacon filled her nostrils as she took in the warm disarray of her loft bedroom. There were sprawling children and littered bedding covering the floor end to end as their chatter filled the little room. She had never awoken to a more comforting site.

Lynn was the first to notice that she was up and her little girl quickly jumped up on Maria's bed giving her mother a hug.

"Mother we were all worried about you." Lynn fussed, burying her head into Maria's side. "The Captain said you had fallen and hit your head. Are you all right now?"

Maria bent and kissed the bridge of her daughter's nose. The same nose that adorned her own face covered with just as many freckles as she once had when she was the same age.

"I'm fine, my darling. I'm sorry I worried you all. It was just a silly fall, nothing to fret over." She left out the part where the fall had ended with a naked man on top of her and a panicking Baroness Schrader locked behind the bathroom door, that she would save and tell her daughter years later when she was older. It would make for a funny story, but this audience was a little too young to appreciate it at the moment.

After she had reassured each and every child that she was fine, and hugged them all into submission, she had to find out where the source of the horrid burning smell was coming from.

"What is that smell?" She asked mostly to herself, but out loud.

"Father is cooking us all breakfast." Kurt said proudly of his father.

Looking around at the other children, some of which sported the same proud smile for their father, others that looked just as confused as Maria, and then there was Liam who simply rolled his eyes at the mention of the Captain's name, Maria found her reassurance. Although she still couldn't believe it.

"I didn't know your father could cook." She said.

"I don't think he can." Brigitta said wrinkling her nose at the smells coming up the stairs from the kitchen.

"Maybe I should go and help him." Maria said, getting up out of the bed.

Three boys shouted "No" at her at the same time.

"Father said we are to stay up here until he calls us and that we are to make sure that you don't get out of the bed." Louisa explained the boy's reactions.

Apparently they were taking their orders rather seriously as Friedrich pushed Maria roughly back down onto the bed. She was about to protest when they heard the Captain call them to come down and get their breakfast. At that point all hell broke loose as the children frenzied to answer his call. Grabbing the bedclothes of the three closest to her in the chaos, one of which was not going anywhere near those stairs until all had calmed down.

"Lynn, Brigitta…" The two girls that she held on to giggled, already knowing what she was going to ask of them.

"We know Mother," Lynn said, "We'll watch him on the stairs."

"MOOOMM," Liam protested wiggling out of her grasp. "I don't need any help." He said blushing from the attention.

"Liam, I know you don't. But those twisted stairs are tricky for the average person. I don't need any more worries than what I already have. Just humor me, please."

"Come on Liam," Brigitta said placing her arm around her friend, "I'll walk in the front of you and Lynn can walk behind you." She started to guide him to the door explaining her plan as she went, "That way if you fall you'll fall into me and Lynn can stop your fall from behind, okay?"

Liam seemed all right with this plan, going along with Brigitta to the door, and nodding his head as she spoke. Stopping just before exiting, he turned around, giving his mother a crooked smile and a wink, having accepted that he wasn't going to escape going down the stairs with at least a little help. Maria felt for her son. He was a prisoner trapped in the limitations of his body; however his mind was sharp as a tack. It couldn't be easy for him.

Getting up from the bed, Maria began to fold all of the extra bedding that the children had brought in for their slumber party. She was about to give up on the task and change into her day clothes, the Baroness having dressed her the day before in one of the two dressing gowns that she owned. How she hated these things, Maria couldn't describe. They were bulky and constricting and she had loathed them on her body ever since that night that one had gotten into her way from the escape of her father.

Recalling the memory of her dream from the night before, Maria froze in the middle of the room, with a half folded blanket in her arms. Sometimes in her dreams she would get away from him and reach Vilhelm's house as her intentions had been that night. And sometimes her dreams, as the one was last night, were just snapshots of the real memories that had taken place that night. Her exact feelings, the pain that had been inflicted upon her, the way the wood had felt when it peppered her face when he had shot the gun and hit her door frame. Reaching up, Maria caressed her cheek as it tingled from the memory.

"Well, this isn't going to work." His voice broke her out of her trance and Maria turned to see the Captain standing in her doorway, in the same suit he had on the day before, with a tray piled high with food. "You can't be served breakfast in bed, if you aren't in bed." He said jokingly though concern was etched in his features.

He remained in the doorway for a few moments watching for her reaction. Catching her breath and taking herself out of that darkness was never easy for Maria, though somehow _he _made it easy for her. Just his presence here in the room made her feel safe and secure. Her lip began to quiver as she held his gaze, the relief she felt at the simple sight of him overwhelming her senses.

Coming into the room, he placed the tray on her bureau and came over to her taking her by the shoulders, leading her back to the bed.

"Here now," he soothed, "I know my cooking isn't the best, but you don't need to cry over it." He said, trying to lighten the mood. It worked for she couldn't help the little chuckle that escaped her lips.

Wordlessly he tucked her back into her bed and retrieved the tray of food. Placing it upon her lap he looked down at the plate of food with pride as Maria stifled an "ewww" in her throat at the look of it.

"What is this?" She asked.

"In the Navy we called them dirty eggs." Dirty wasn't the word for it, Maria thought as she gazed upon her "feast". On her plate were blackened scrambled eggs, dripping with burnt bacon grease. Adorning the place next to the eggs was the most burnt toast she had ever seen in her life and what she assumed was once bacon but was now charcoal strips of meat.

"Yum," she said, "I can't wait."

Releasing a sigh, he picked up the tray of food, "You don't have to eat it," he said, taking the tray back over to the bureau, "the children didn't. They all ran out the door over to the main house to see what Cook had made for breakfast."

Maria gave a little laugh, "Well, it's the thought that counts. Thank you for making me breakfast." Blushing as he returned to sit on the side of her bed facing her she said, "And thank you for staying with me last night…after…" she let the rest hang in the air. She didn't need to go any further as he nodded in understanding, knowing she meant after her nightmare.

"It was my pleasure, Fraulein." Taking a finger and raising her chin so that she would meet his eyes he said, "Actually I've wanted to spend a night with you for quite some time now, although whenever I imagined it, we were making children instead of being surrounded by the existing children."

"Captain!" She cried at his boldness, surely blushing crimson now. This only caused a raucous laugh to come from his mouth.

"I like scandalizing you," he whispered all too seriously. She didn't know how he did it, but with just a few words and that look in his eye he could make her blood boil hot in an instant. "I like the way you blush."

Looking away from him she shook her head, but couldn't help the little smile that was plastered on her lips. He could be pressing her about her nightmares, he could be hollering about yesterday afternoon, he could be fishing for more information about her father in law, instead he was here trying to make her feel better. He was incorrigible, but he was a loveable.

"I need to get up and get ready for today's lessons." She said giving him a playful push to the chest, attempting to get out of the bed.

"No you don't." He said running his finger down her nose, "you have the morning off. Max and Elsa are taking the children into town until dinner time."

"Elsa?" She questioned at the mention of the Baroness. For some reason she had thought—well really, she hadn't thought what had happened to the Baroness after yesterday's confessions. Maybe the Baroness had come up with an entire different story that had convinced the Captain that she hadn't spent the entire afternoon in bed with the gardener? Although Maria couldn't quite imagine what that story could be….

"That's right, Elsa." He said and rolled his eyes at her name, "We have that dinner party planned for next week. The invitations have already gone out- so we thought it best that she waited until after that to take her leave."

The way that he said it, Maria couldn't tell if he was annoyed that there was a dinner party or if he was annoyed at the fact that the Baroness couldn't leave until then. She thought of asking him to clarify it for her, but he rambled on about the plans for the day, stopping her from prying his feelings over the subject out of him.

"So Elsa is taking the girls to get their dresses for the party and Max is taking the three boys to get their suits and new shoes for Kurt."

"You're sending the Baroness shopping with five…" He held his fingers up in the amount of the number six.

"You forgot Lynn," he said.

"Oh, that's right—you're sending the Baroness shopping with six girls!" She exclaimed. "You're punishing her, aren't you?"

"Although I am relieved that she made the break up easy for me," He said leaning into her face for clarity, "For I was going to _have _to end our relationship anyway. It does still hurt the ego a little—so yes I am punishing her slightly."

Momentarily she pushed her thoughts to the back of her mind as to why he had needed to end his relationship. Silently chastising her beating heart to calm down, for even if his reasons had anything to do with her, in two weeks' time they wouldn't matter anyhow and for a moment basked in the glory of being child free for the morning.

She loved the children, really she did, but as her eyelids grew heavy again, she began to think maybe the doctor was right. Maybe a little peace and quiet was all she needed to calm the swarms of worry that continuously flowed through her mind nowadays.

"And what are you going to do with your quiet day, Captain?" She asked as she noted that he had left himself out of the big shopping trip.

"I," he said tucking the blanket around her abdomen, "have a few phone calls to make. However," he continued bringing his face closer to hers while brushing her messy hair off of her forehead, "I could just stay with you and make sure you rest."

"Somehow I don't think I would be getting too much rest if I let you stay." She replied mimicking his playful tone.

"No, I suppose not," he said, slapping his hand against his leg and then giving her his toothiest smile. "But you_ would_ be in bed."

"You're incorrigible."

"No, I'm not," he said, then took her by surprise by stealing a fast kiss, "I'm determined." Before he could recapture her mouth with his own again, she turned her head from him, causing him to sigh in frustration.

"Captain," she began, "just because the Baroness-just because circumstances have changed for you doesn't mean that I've changed my mind."

She was making a list of all the reasons why their relationship couldn't go any further than what it was, with him rolling his eyes at her at each point.

"I'm leaving here in two weeks to move to another continent. You're taking on a dangerous new job. A stupid new job that I don't think you should take. Then there are the children. If we started a relationship now it would only confuse them." Purposely she left out the two most important factors, one that she was still madly in love with the memory of her husband and two if he knew exactly who she was he would have thrown her out on the street days ago. Even leaving those two important factors out her list went on and on.

When she was done he simply cocked his head to the side and said, "Are you quite finished?"

Taking a moment to reflect on her argument, which she believed to have been thorough she replied, "Yes I believe so."

Grabbing her by the back of the head he crushed his lips once more against hers, the force of which made her gasp in surprise. Taking advantage he lost no time in deepening the kiss snaking his tongue inside of her the heat of which ignited her insides. By the time he was through she was limp in his arms and every point she had just made against this had flown south for the winter. Damn he was good.

Standing from her bed, leaving her gasping and wanton, he bent over her form. Bringing his granite gaze within centimeters of her eyes he finally spoke in even hard tones.

"Do you remember the conversation we had the other night in your bedroom at the villa?"

Really? Did he just kiss the sense out of her and now wanted her to recall a conversation from days ago? And where the hell was he going? How the hell could he come in here, drive her to submission and then leave?

"The one about you knocking on my door and always getting what you want?" She asked, somehow managing to make her mouth and memory work at the same time.

"That's the one." He said through his mischievous smile, "I'll be knocking on your door tonight, Fraulein." The way he said her name made her insides flop at the promise it held.

"Is that a threat?"

"It's a promise."

Before she could fathom what he had just said he was out of her room and down the stairs. Frustrated she ran to the bedroom window and watched him walk over the little footbridge away from the cottage. Fighting off the urge to open the window and yell to him that he could have knocked now, for heaven's sake, she realized she needed to fortify her defenses if she was going to get through the next two weeks unscathed.


	29. Chapter 29

Chapter 29

When the Captain had left her breathless, it was seven-thirty in the morning. By eight-thirty Maria was bored out of her mind. She had tried to fall back to sleep to no avail. It had been almost ten years since Maria had slept past six in the morning, so she was a little ahead of the game.

She had then finally taken the long soaking bath that she failed to get in the day before. Then dressed and came down her stairs to a disaster of a kitchen. Apparently, not only was the outcome of the Captains' cooking a mess, but so had been the treatment of her kitchen and utensils. Since not one surface of her kitchen was untouched, unconsciously she checked the ceiling to make sure he hadn't managed to get something up there as well.

Smiling down at the note that he had left her in the middle of her scattered table about sending a maid over to clean up the after him, she donned her apron and set to task, happy to have something to do. For the life of her she couldn't get the stupid grin off of her face or the thought out of her mind that he had went to all of this trouble just for her. When he wasn't the arrogant self-absorbed bastard that he pretended to be, he was truly sweet and kind and-stop it! She yelled at herself, you're supposed to be coming up with reasons to hate him again. Not fawning over him like a teenage idol. But then she saw his smile and that look in his eyes that was only for her and she sighed. Later-she would start rebuilding her defenses later. Right now she could be lost for a while.

She was elbow high in soap suds, cleaning the last dish, and lost somewhere in a fantasy that involved last night and no children when a knock came at the door. Assuming it was the maid, she threw the door open without checking who it was first, and her heart stopped at the sight waiting for her on her doorstep.

Like sneering vultures, the two men that the Captain had chased away from the Abbey yesterday afternoon adorned her threshold.

"Well, well, well," the short fat one hissed to his partner, "Look who we have here." He pushed his way past a stunned Maria into the cottage while the other remained outside. "You remember her don't you, Christof?"

The taller one looked Maria up and down, and then licked his lips, sending a bolt of fear down Maria's legs.

"I never forget a beautiful woman, Michael, you know that." Without taking his eyes off of Maria, the larger more physically sinister man of the two, loomed over her, leaving her no choice but to allow him access into the cottage. It was either that or be bowled over by him; she didn't doubt for a minute that he would do it.

Swallowing the lump in her throat, Maria gathered her thoughts. Why are they here, she wondered and what exactly did they know?

Deciding to play it cool for the moment she came up with, "If you gentleman are selling something, I'm not buying so you can just move on."

"Oh," the short fat one named Michael replied for the pair as he fingered one of her photographs up on the mantle, "we're not the ones selling anything, my dear." Picking up one of the recent photographs of the twins he gave a wicked smile and held it up for Maria to see, "Cute kids," he said, then ran his finger down the image of Lynn, "she's gonna be a looker when she gets older."

Maria narrowed her eyes at the man and choked back the bile that emitted in her throat. If he made one more reference to her daughter she might just grab the closest knife and cut his tongue out.

"Don't you think, Christof?" Fatty held the picture up so that his friend could see.

Glancing quickly at the photo and then back to Maria with that stare that went through her, leaving her feeling naked and vulnerable he snarled through brown teeth, "Hmmm-mmm, just like her Mama."

"As I was saying," Fatty continued, replacing the picture exactly where he had taken it from, taking great care to straighten it just right, "We aren't selling anything, however, we were hoping to make a transaction with you." He spoke to her as if they were great acquaintances already, the threat just hidden in each nuance.

"I'm sorry gentlemen, I believe you are mistaken. I have nothing to sell." Still playing the dummy Maria was pretty sure they hadn't wandered in here by accident. Although she was sure that they knew- that somehow, in some way they had found out her true identity and her connection to Kutschera von Helstin shipping. She wasn't about to give up her bluff just yet.

"Oh really?" Fatty sneered while his partner the Oaf backed her against the kitchen counter, "Maybe you'll give it up for free then, ehhh…but we'll pay you for the railroad."

The Oaf smiled menacingly at her, while she tried to hide her fear. "Hmm—how bout' it lady? You wanna give it up for free?"

Without much else to look at, since the big guy's wide chest blocked her view from the rest of the world, she took in his appearance. The suits they had on were new, she could tell from the sheen of the lapel, and also cheap. As were the shirts, that had lost their crease the day before. Their accents were local, but not of Salzburg, possibly of the surrounding farming community. What mostly gave them away were their shoes. Their polish was too high, while the bottoms of their pants were splashed with mud at the hem. They must have taken their boots off after they had left the farm and then put on their shoes.

Whoever these guys were, she was adamantly sure they were not high up on the Third Reich's ladder. Probably they were supporters of the Anschluss looking to get a few brownie points in for their hopeful future leaders.

She figured she had two choices. One she could call them on their threats and make a few of her own. Or two, she could try to buy their silence. In life there were two kinds of country boys. One's that were dumb and menacing on the outside, but soft as kittens on the inside, or they were just down right mean to the core. She was hoping for the first one with these two.

However she was proven wrong in her next moves. Figuring if she chastised them for their ungentlemanly behavior they might back off, she slapped the big guy on the arm, "How dare you speak to me that way in my home." She was taken by surprise when the Oaf answered her chastisement by wrenching her wrist behind her back.

Crying loudly out in pain, she bent her head away from his as he hissed in her ear, "That's not how a lady treats her guests, now is it?" He asked while applying more pressure to her bones. For a moment she thought her wrist might snap from his treatment.

"Christof, Christof," Fatty said, prying his friend off of her. "First we have to get what we need out of her, then you can do whatever you want." Maria's heart sank. "Lady, we're just looking to make an honest business transaction with you. If you keep acting in this rude way, I might have to let Christof give you a lesson in manners." These were not the kittens that she was hoping for.

Unfortunately for the moment they had the upper hand. Luck, however was on Maria's side for as the two men regained their composure a slight form appeared in the doorway.

"Frau Rainer," the young maid greeted her, surprised to see the door to the cottage open and Maria with visitors, "Captain von Trapp sent me to tend the kitchen."

Maria's heart did a little cheer as circumstances changed into her favor.

"Isabelle," Maria greeted her, "Actually, the kitchen is fine, but if you could do me a favor and tell Daniel, the new gardener that I could use his help I would be much obliged." Maria rested her eyes on the two beastly men decorating her hearth, "Tell him I have a couple of weeds in my flower bed that I need him to get rid of."

The maid looked thoroughly confused by Maria's request. Fidgeting in the doorway she looked from Maria to the two men then back to Maria.

"The Captain will be angry if I don't do as he asks." She said still afraid to move.

"Don't worry about the Captain. I'll take care of him." Finally taking her eyes off of her two intruders, Maria met the young girl's eyes and gave her a wink, "Just do as I ask of you, then find a quiet place in the house to read a magazine. I'll tell the Captain you did a fabulous job on the kitchen."

"As you wish, Ma'am." Isabelle did a little curtsy and then left. Maria prayed she would find Daniel quickly. Actually, Maria was wondering if Daniel was still around. The Captain never did tell her what he had done with him after yesterday's fiasco.

When they were alone again the Oaf scratched his head, "I hate weeds too," he said, "They always getting in the way." Maria refrained from rolling her eyes at him. She wanted to say, ahh idiot, you're the weed, but she didn't want to tip him off. Although judging from the intelligence level, she could have said it and he still wouldn't have gotten it.

"All right, Gentlemen," Maria said interrupting their whispered debate between each other. "What is it that I can do for you?"

Fatty, who seemed to be the official brains of the outfit spoke first.

"Your last name is Rainer?"

"Yes that's right." Maria replied, hope sparking in her chest.

"We were told that you were the niece of Adelaide von Helstin the reverend mother of Nonnberg Abbey."

"And just where did you get this information from?" Maria asked.

"From a source close to the household." Fatty said clicking his tongue against his upper teeth.

"Well, you were told wrong." Maria replied hoping that maybe if she bluffed another hand she just might come up with a full house to beat their flush. Or kill enough time so that Daniel could get here.

"You were there yesterday," the Oaf spoke, "we sawz yous there." Maria began to understand why they didn't let this one speak too much.

"Yeah," confirmed Fatty, "and our source said she came here once to visit you. Sayz she was your Auntie."

Thinking fast Maria came up with a story, "She's a good friend to me. My children and I have rented a house on the Abbey grounds for years. She is like family to us, but I am of no blood relation to her." She wasn't entirely lying, only the children were technically of blood relation to Aunt Adelaide.

Thankfully Maria didn't have to explain any further for something or someone came into the doorway casting a large shadow over the room. She didn't even have to turn her head to know that only one person could fill a room with darkness with just his presence.

Leaning on the doorframe, supporting his chin on a garden hoe was a shirtless and sweaty Daniel. Looking at the two would be thugs with a crooked grin; Daniel greeted them, "Gentlemen. How's it going?" With his chin still resting on his hand on top of the handle of the hoe, Daniel regarded her, "Countess, I was told you were having trouble with a couple of pesky weeds." Nodding his large head at the stunned duo, "Would that be them?" He asked.

"Yes it would be." Maria calmly replied. Before the words were even out of her mouth, Daniel had swung the hoe high up in the air, catching it at the bottom he turned it over like a baseball bat and swung it into the mid –section of the Oaf. While the big guy doubled over, Daniel swung around and kicked his partner square in the face sending him out cold to the stone floor. With a finishing blow behind the head, Daniel knocked out the Oaf who now slept soundly beside the other. All the damage had been done and Maria hadn't even had time to blink.

"Wow," was all she could muster for the moment as she looked at the two men who were sleeping like babies on the floor. "You're handy to have around."

"Are you alright?" Daniel asked her, evaluating her from head to toe, "Did they hurt you in anyway?"

Unconsciously Maria grabbed her sore wrist, a move that didn't go unnoticed by her protector. Taking the hoe he jabbed the end in a crushing blow to each man's stomach. Lord knows what he would have done if Maria hadn't stopped him.

"Daniel, don't kill them." Grabbing the hoe in his hand to stop another blow to one of their heads, Maria halted his next action.

"Who are they?" He spat over their still bodies.

"I don't know," she replied and then went into the story of her first meeting with them yesterday and what they had told her today. Nodding his head, Daniel went over to the phone; he gave the operator the number he needed then spoke briefly to someone on the other line.

"I have a double package that I'm going to need worked over." He said into the line. Silent for a moment while whoever it was he was talking to gave him orders he finished, "I have a car. License number," Maria poked her head out the door and read him the number from the duo's car while Daniel repeated it into the phone. "Forty-five minutes, the bridge on Bain Rd." Going silent again, he looked over at Maria, apparently the conversation had turned to her, "No she's fine for now. I'll send her over to the main house while I'm gone. The children are still in town, you do have two men on them correct. Alright, forty-five minutes."

Hanging up the phone Daniel took some garden twine out of his back pocket.

"Countess," he started as he began to bind up the first of the two thugs.

"Daniel, please stop calling me that."

Sighing, he finished his intricate knot, still kneeling over his victim he wiped sweat from his brow with his forearm and then turned to look at her, "Countess for generations my family has served yours. It was my father's job to protect your family, before that his fathers and before that his father's father. And now—finally it's my turn. My father gave his life trying to keep you from harm against his own employer. I would be dishonoring his memory if I turn my back on his legacy." His face shadowed over at the mention of his own father. Even after all that took place, she was humbled that he took great pride in being able to keep his family's tradition alive.

"And I appreciate it, really I do. But you aren't my servant, how about we'll just be good friends?" She asked placing her hand out for him to shake. Reluctantly he stood regarding her sentiment. Finally, after great thought he shook it as her equal.

"That sounds good…friends…" he let the word roll slowly off of his tongue as if trying it on for size. "Then as your friend, I'm telling you to high tail it over to the main house while I'm out. I don't want you left here alone at all from now on. The children too- will have to be reined in. These two are bottom feeders," he said kicking the foot of the fat one, "I'm going to find how high up the ladder your discovery has went, but until then, I need to know that you are safe." Pointing to the bridge of his nose that sported a bruise, "after the reaction I got yesterday, I know that the Captain would fight Hell to make sure you stay that way." Maria blushed from his reference, "We didn't tell him about you, I'm under strict orders from Mr. von Helstin to keep your identity safe." There was a moment of panic in his eyes as he went on to explain, "I had already told Elsa before the order came down. Before we knew there was any real threat. Please don't tell him?" She gave him a gentle nod reassuring her new friend that his secret was safe with her. "But I'm starting to think we might need to bring him in on this, Count…" he caught himself before he finished the word, "Maria. We might need his help. Mr. von Helstin doesn't trust him, but I do. I've done a little sneaking around; he's on the up and up. There's no spy in him what so ever."

Maria sighed, "I'm going to tell him, I just haven't figured out a way how, yet."

Daniel finished tying up the other fellow and then with very little effort he threw the Oaf over his shoulder. Again, Maria's mind boggled at the strength of the man. The Captain was very lucky that Daniel hadn't struck him back yesterday. If he had, she was sure he would be sporting more than a bruised nose.

"Tell him soon, Maria. He needs to know, if they have traced you to him, that might mean that he and his family may be in danger as well." Maria's heart clinched at the thought. If anything happened to him or his children because of her, she would never be able to live with herself again.

As he was about to walk out the cottage door Maria stopped him.

"Daniel, your father would be very proud of you."

He gave her a toothy smile, hitching his load a little higher on his shoulder.

"Thanks." He said and disappeared with his bounty.


	30. Chapter 30

Chapter 30

Maria spent the rest of the morning and most of the early afternoon, hiding in the main house from the Captain, while she waited for the return of the children. She found that after the first two hours of peace and quiet that she couldn't function properly without the normal noise and turmoil that nine wonderful children brought naturally to her day. Plus after what had taken place over at the cottage only hours before, she wanted the children here with her so that she could reassure herself that every one of them was safe and sound.

It wasn't very hard to stay out of the Captain's way, for he hadn't emerged from his study at all during the morning. Frau Schmidt had told her that he had an important visitor in the study with him and had left strict orders not to be disturbed. For once, Maria didn't find it at all hard to follow the orders. She still wasn't sure if she was going to tell the Captain what had taken place this morning at the cottage after he had left. For that matter, she wasn't even sure where to begin, even if she did.

She knew that it was only a matter of time before she was going to have to tell him the truth about her past. But that was what held her back, time. If she could only get through the next two weeks without having to tell him then they could go their separate ways with him being none the wiser. The only thing was she couldn't tell anymore where he ended and she began. It all seemed surreal. Around them there was all this chaos and confusion. Her leaving for America, him taking a command in England, then there was the question of the children. What was he to do with them if he went out to sea? Who would be taking care of them? All of these pressing and urgent decisions needed to be answered immediately, and yet, she could only focus on one thing. Him.

Her mind couldn't get past him. She felt as if together they had merged into a straight line and as long as they continued this path together they would be alright. The problem was the only thing staring at her straight through the headlights was a fork in the road. She truly believed that the toll would be too heavy for both of them if either chose to take the other's turn.

She could no more go with him to England with the anchor of Bill's love still around her heart and the haunting memories from her past, then he could go with her to America with the shackle of his principals grounding his feet. It was a quagmire that had no end.

Luckily for her, Max returned with the boys before she could get too stuck within her deep thoughts. They were a welcomed distraction as they modeled their new suits for her. She made a mental note to repay the Captain for Liam's new outfit that he looked spectacularly handsome in. Not being able to hold back the smile at how much he resembled his father at this age.

When Friedrich came out to show her his pick for the party, Maria almost cried. He had chosen a full pant suit and in it, one could no longer deny that the boy was quickly becoming a man. Remembering the first time she had met Friedrich as a first grader escorting his little sister Louisa to her classroom for her first day of kindergarten with their mother, Maria couldn't help but let her eyes water over. Soon it wouldn't be only Liesl that the Captain had to worry about.

After the boys had finished their little show, the girls arrived with much fanfare. Soon the nursery was filled with excited voices and shopping bags being thrown around. In the doorway a beat Baroness leaned against the frame her head lying against the wood for support.

"How the hell do you do this every day?" She asked Maria thoroughly exhausted from her excursions with the girls.

Maria simply gave her a shrug of the shoulders and then soaked in the delight of the children allowing it to wash away all of her dark thoughts.

"I'm going to go and take a nap before dinner." The Baroness said walking away down the hall.

"Fraulein Maria," Liesl called her attention, "Father allowed me to get two dresses today. This one for the party," she held up her selection for the party a pretty gray dress, subdued in nature yet a little more mature than the rest of her wardrobe, "and this one for my date tonight with Rolf." Liesl held the pink summer dress up to herself and twirled around in gitty excitement.

"Oh my goodness," Maria exclaimed, "Your date…I had completely forgotten."

Maria set the boys out of the room, while she and the girls helped Liesl get ready for her big evening out. How exciting it must have been for the girl to have this first opportunity to experience a part of the grown up world.

She, herself, never having experienced anything like this, since she had known her first love since the day she had been born, couldn't help but get caught up in the fantasy. Although that love didn't blossom until later on, when they were pre-teens, taking on a full bloom after they were living together under the same roof. There had been no first date, per say, just subtle changes in glances and touches that grew to so much more over time.

All seven girls, including Maria, for she was as happy as a school girl at that moment, bustled around primping Liesl as if she were a princess attending her first ball. She and Louisa had hair duties, while Brigitta and Lynn applied some lip gloss and a little blush to Liesl's cheeks.

"Not too much, girls." Maria warned, "Otherwise the Captain will have a fit."

Marta and Gretl were playing Cinderella waiting to slip Liesl's "glass" slippers onto her feet; apparently all of them were lost in their own little fantasies.

When they were all finished, they stood back and watched their creation twirl around in the mirror. She looked wonderful and happy and Maria couldn't help but envy her innocence.

She finished dressing the rest of the girls and then changed into her own dinner dress. The day had been so hot that she had picked a very light dress for the night. It was blue chiffon and hung off of her shoulders and loose around her legs. She was about ten degrees cooler after putting it on.

Walking into the parlor where the Captain, Max, Elsa and the boys awaited their arrival, the five younger girls sprinted in and with a bow announced Liesl. Watching the Captains face as he took in his daughter's appearance she watched the myriad of changes wash over him. First there was awe, then slight anger which turned into sadness when he finally had to accept that his little girl wasn't so little anymore.

"You look radiant," he said to Liesl, taking her by the shoulders and kissing her cheek. Looking at Maria for the first time since she had entered the room he finished, "a little too radiant." Maria gave him the "get over it face" and shrugged her shoulders. In return he gave her a little growl as he walked behind her to retrieve his glass of brandy letting her know that he wasn't too pleased with her.

His mood didn't seem to lighten as they waited for their guest to arrive. He was nowhere near the jovial man that he had been that morning, and Maria began to wonder if it was simply from the anxiety of his daughters first date or from his mystery visitor from the afternoon. The identity of which she had never learned, try as she might.

At half past six Franz announced Rolf into the room. The poor boy looked about as nervous as a man facing the gallows. Especially after everyone in the room greeted him warmly, except for the Captain who acted as the executioner and the three boys who were his backup.

When they moved into the dining room the Captain surprised them all by seating Friedrich and Kurt next to him at either side of the table. Then he placed Rolf in the seat next to Kurt. Turning to Liam he placed his hand on his shoulder, "Liam my boy, why don't you take the seat across from Rolf."

Maria let out a sigh for she knew exactly what the Captain was up to. The Captain then took his seat and with a satisfied smile looked upon the faces of the three boys. Poor Rolf didn't know what he was in for as he faced the trifecta of overly protective brothers.

Elsa took the seat next to Maria on one side with Lynn next to her on the other, sharing a little joke over the order of the table, Maria and Elsa let out a chuckle. In annoyance the Captain clinked his fork against his plate calling their attention to him.

"Would you ladies care to share the joke with the rest of the table?" He asked not masking his unhappy tone with them.

"No sir," Maria stated adding the formality in her voice from the tone of his, "It's meant to be a secret between the Baroness and I."

"Well then, I suggest you keep it until later and let us eat." He stated. On instinct Elsa and Lynn both placed their hands over Maria's which rested on the table and had turned into balled fists after his last statement.

Maria couldn't for the life of her excuse his rude behavior. He was nowhere near the man his was yesterday and this morning. How quickly he had turned back into the man she couldn't stand.

"We haven't said grace, yet." She replied with a tone to match his while their eyes dueled across the table.

"Well then say it, woman, the food is getting cold." Elsa and Lynn shared surprised eyes with each other and then both physically tightened their hands around her fists holding her in her seat. If they would only let go of her hands she would be free to choke the evil out of that man.

"I'll say grace tonight, Mother." Lynn stammered trying to call peace to the table. What poor Rolf must have thought, Maria could only imagine.

Gratefully Maria nodded for Lynn to go ahead and say the blessing. It was a good thing that she did for Maria had already formulated a new one in her head that the Captain wouldn't have appreciated too much. It would have went something like, _for what we are about to receive, I would be truly thankful if the Captain would choke to death on it. _

Needless to say, Lynn's was much more pleasant. Although Maria couldn't quite tell you what her daughter had said, for she and the Captain were once again locked in eye battle while everyone else bowed their heads for the prayer.

The rest of the meal passed with stale conversation. The children kept passing worried glances with each other while poor Rolf's neck must have cramped for it never raised up again until dessert was served.

When the clock rang seven-thirty, the Captain escorted Liesl and Rolf to the door where out in the driveway their ride awaited them. Being ever so fatherly he went over the list of rules, decency and decorum were thrown around again as well as a curfew. Rolf took each one in with a nod of his head. Before leaving, he clicked his heals together and bowed to the Captain bidding him goodnight.

The remainder of the crew stood in the foyer as the Captain watched the car carrying his baby girl exit the driveway. Once it was out of the gates he turned to Maria and interrupted her conversation with Marta and Gretl over the plans they were making for the night. Gretl wanted to walk along the lake and Marta wanted to listen to old phonographs with Uncle Max.

"Fraulein." He called her name as if her were calling a hunting dog. "Let's go."

Maria looked upon the remaining children, as well as Max and Elsa to see if they had any clue as to what the Captain was talking about. Seeing their blank faces, Maria figured they were about as up as she was.

"Ahh..go where Captain?" She couldn't be sure, but she thought she saw smoke come out of his ears by her question.

"To follow them." Maria's eyes grew wide. "Now get your coat, and let's go. We're going to lose them." Oh yeah. He was insane; there was no doubt about it.

"Captain we can't…"

"Coat, Now!" He demanded. When she didn't move to retrieve it he huffed off of the top stair, took her jacket from an awaiting Franz and grabbed her by the arm tugging her out of the door.

"But Captain," she protested, "I have to put the children to bed and what about Lynn and Liam."

Growling at her he stopped at the door.

"Lynn, Liam, you're sleeping over tonight. Doesn't that sound like fun?" Her two children cheered when they heard that. Maria made a mental note to slap them silly for their mutiny later. "Max, Elsa, you two are in charge of the children tonight. Get them to bed on time." With that he was out the door, dragging her right behind him. She looked to the Baroness for help. However, the Baroness was too busy looking upon the gaggle of children that had just been left in her care. Maria was quite sure there was an utter look of fear plastered on the woman's face.

All the way around the house he pulled her following the driveway's path. They had walked past his car ten minutes ago. Finally he stopped when they reached the garage of the main house that was tucked behind the servant's quarters.

Wasting no time he threw open the garage door and pointed to a thing with some wheels on it that had a glass windshield with what looked to be a steering wheel behind it.

It had a flat nose and a short truck bed. If one weighed more than one hundred and fifty pounds, Maria guessed, you had to ride in the bed for they weren't fitting in what looked to be a seat.

"What is this?" Maria asked him as he went to open the door for her.

"Franz's vehicle."

"I don't think so." Maria said refusing to take her seat. "I don't think this qualifies as a vehicle. Liam has toy trucks bigger than this thing."

"My car and your car are too recognizable. Liesl has never seen this car; Franz just bought it last week."

"You mean he bought this on purpose?"

"Get in the car, Fraulein!"

"Fine." Against her better judgment she did as she was told and squeezed into the seat. She didn't know where he was going to sit for she was almost behind the steering wheel from the passenger seat. Getting in himself, he had to suck his gut in to fit behind the wheel where it pressed into his jacket. She had to stifle a giggle as he cut her with his eyes while trying to flatten out his jacket so that he could actually move the wheel.

Once he was able to get the thing started and in gear, they drove in relative silence as he maxed out the engine on the straightaway. The truck was giving him all it had and all it had was about thirty miles an hour.

"What exactly are we doing, Captain?" Maria questioned him. For a moment she didn't think he had heard her, he was all white knuckled and determined to get to his destination.

"I'm going to keep an eye on my daughter and since I let you talk me into this, you're coming with me."

"I see," she replied shaking her head at him. "Don't you think Liesl will be very upset with you if she learns that you didn't trust her enough to go out on her own for one night?"

Coming to a screeching halt at the intersection, the Captain didn't check for oncoming traffic. Instead he sat letting the truck idle with razor eyes pointed at her.

"You of all people will not lecture me about trust, Maria-" he narrowed his eyes at her pausing for dramatic effect. He didn't even need to say what hung off of his tongue. Before the words exited his mouth they charged the air like a premonition, she could hear them in the silence mocking her. "von Helstin."

Hearing her formal last name come from his lips hit Maria square in the chest like a ton of bricks. It knocked the wind out of her while a thousand questions swirled in her mind. How the hell did he find out? When did he find out? And now that he knew what was he going to do with her?

"That is your name, isn't it?" He demanded from her while she sat choking back tears of fear.

He must hate her now, she thought. He must loathe the very site of her and all that she stood for. She wanted to run. She wanted to get as far away from here as possible and maybe somehow turn back time to when he didn't look at her like dirt under his shoes.

"How did you find out?" She asked him the words barely coming out in a whisper.

The Captain shook his head and then rested it against his hands on the steering wheel. "Not the way I should have." He said then raised his head to look at her. She was so focused on the fact that he must have been utterly disgusted at having shared a summer with his sworn enemy that she missed the hurt in his eyes. "Your Aunt paid me a visit today." He said, and then let out a long sigh. "It was a very enlightening afternoon."

Aunt Adelaide! Maria screamed in her mind. How dare she betray her like this! Did she have any idea what she had caused?

"I'm sure it was," Maria said the bitter disappointment of betrayal thick in her throat. "I apologize for keeping the truth from you...I'll be leaving with the children as soon as we get back to the villa."

The Captain snapped his head up to attention when she said that. "Why would you leave?"

"Because you know my last name now and…and…and…you're so angry."

"I'm angry because you didn't trust me enough to tell me the truth. I don't care what your last name is," He spat at her. "Your last name could be Hitler for all I care! I didn't fall in love with your name Maria. I'm in love with you. And it hurts me to think I am the last person in the world you would turn to with the truth."

Love? Did he just say love? Maria's head spun. It was better when he was angry. She could handle anger, but this, this was a war she didn't have the strength to fight anymore. Before when the truth had been revealed she had been scared of the implications, but now, now she was simply terrified.

As if guessing her next actions, which would have been to open the truck door and take off, down the road. The Captain cursed under his breath, "Christ", and then threw the truck in gear. Making a quick U-turn, he headed back down the road they had just come down.

If Maria thought that he drove like a maniac before, the Captain was out to prove her wrong now. The truck's engine must have warmed up for now it drove like an ace, flying down the dirt road, leaving a trail of dust in their path. Coming to the cottages driveway which was before the bend in the road that took you to the Captain's house he swung the truck hard to the right. Instead of following the drive to the cottages front door, he went around the back of the garage through the brush, stopping the truck at the back door. Now the cottage blocked anyone's view of the truck. No one knew that they were there, Maria thought.

The Captain threw his door open then tugged Maria out of the truck in his wake. Before when they had exited the house he had grabbed her good wrist, however this time it was her injured wrist from earlier in the day that he grabbed and she had to stifle a cry as his enormous hands reminded her of her injury.

"I thought you wanted to spy on Liesl." Maria said trying to wake the Captain out of whatever spell had overcome him. She wasn't sure what his intentions were. But if the crazed look in his eyes were any indication, it wasn't going to be good. Maybe he was angrier than he thought he was.

Fishing a key out of his pocket, the Captain unlocked her back door and pushed her into the cottages parlor. Twilight having settled upon them the room was dark with shadows. Instinctively, Maria reached out to turn the light switch, but before she could reach it the Captain grabbed her hand stopping her then pressed her against the wall with his body.

"You and I have unfinished business that we need to discuss first," He said his breath coming in short gasps. "Besides you were right, I need to trust my daughter. Wouldn't I be the biggest hypocrite if I myself can't give what I demand?"

He had her trapped against the wall. His body was flush against hers, his eyes only millimeters away from her own. The air around them began to palpitate with a new charge. It was a mixture of anger, hurt, pain and arousal. A dangerous mixture if she had ever felt one.

"I wanted to tell you." She said more to take her mind off of the fact that she could feel his every muscle through her clothes than to continue a conversation she never wanted to have.

"Shush," he said nuzzling her neck with his nose. "I don't want to talk about that anymore. You had your reasons, your Aunt told me."

"You don't hate me?" She asked as he slid his arms around her, one behind her back and the other up the base of her neck positioning her head at his desired angle. Instead of answering her he captured her mouth with his own. The kiss was hot and demanding, not a kiss that anyone was going to walk away from. It was a clear beginning that only had one end.

"No I don't hate you. But I hate it when you threaten to leave me. You're not going anywhere unless I tell you to."

What the hell was going on, she questioned. One minute he's screaming at her and the next he's trying to get into her pants. Was this all that mattered to him? Was she simply a body he needed to conquer before he threw her out the door?

"Captain," she started as soon as he took his lips from hers, pressing them into the crook of her neck. Slowly he licked his way down to her collar bone as she felt his fingers against her back undoing the buttons to her dress. "Captain," she tried again, but he stopped her by growling in her ear, "Georg."

"What?" She asked him trying to re-determine up from down as he nibbled on her ear and pushed her dress off of her shoulders where it pooled on the ground around her feet. Slowly he ran his hands down her sides which were now only covered with her thin silk slip.

"Woman," he began his mouth now at the base of her throat, nibbling its way back to her ear, "I'm about to make you mine, I think you can call me by my given name." Somehow his words reached through her ear and seized her heart. Some sort of mixture of fear and desire now pumped through her veins. She wasn't sure what she was more afraid of. The fact that she might not be able to stop him or the fact that she really didn't want to stop him.

"But Captain, we can't…you …" She tried to get her argument out, but he was doing things to her that didn't let her think straight. His hands were going up her slip, gathering the material in his fists. Achingly slow he brought it up the length of her body, his knuckles skimming every inch of her torso on the way up, instinctively she raised her arms so that he could lift it over her head. Meanwhile the still rational part of her mind screamed at her for helping the situation get worse.

"I don't care who you are Maria. I don't care about your past." He was making his professions through light kisses that he was placing at the base of her neck. Lower and lower he went, making her breasts heave in her bra where they longed to be freed and touched, the skin around them becoming tight from need. "You're mine," he growled forcing the cups of her bra down freeing her breasts. Like a starving beast he suckled her nipple and she felt the pull all the way to her groin.

She couldn't hold back any longer, it was all too much. The stimulation, the emotions, the craving, there was no more denying it as she ran her fingers through his hair and arched into his mouth. He knew he had her when she moaned, "oh god," and became limp in his arms.

Ripping his head away from her breasts she brought it up to her mouth. For the first time, she kissed him, turning the heat from simmer to boil, as their tongues dueled for domination. Moaning her name, the Captain lost the battle as Maria learned his mouth with her tongue. Quickly she unbuttoned his jacket and threw it off of his shoulders. She needed to feel him, to touch his skin, to mark him as her own as he was doing to her. For now she would forget the consequences and all the questions.

Rationality was replaced with abandon as they both fought with his clothes, button for button, until finally she was able to shove his shirt aside and feel him. She was a quick learner and soon she knew just where to touch him, just what made his eyes roll back in his head and before long he was throwing her down on the hard floor desire making him forget his manners.

"Now, Maria." He gasped as he undid his pants, keeping them on and crawled between her legs. Animal instincts had taken over, touch, tease, suck, taste; they were rolling around on the floor, her with her bra and panties still on and he still completely dressed. They were completely and utterly out of control and for once in her life, Maria just went with it.

The fire inside her belly threatened to consume her whole, each touch, kiss, stroke, had her writhing beneath him until the flames got so hot that she had to cry out.

"Captain, please."

Growling he sat up and ripped her panties down her legs. She couldn't look at him, if she did, it would be over, so instead she focused on his chest, his torso, moving slowly down to where his loose pants almost revealed him. When she saw his hands move to the V of his pants opening she averted her eyes back to his chest. Panic and uncertainty began to rise in her veins. What were they doing? She began to question herself. Could she really go through with this?

When he leaned back over her, she could feel him pushing at her center, begging for entrance. Oh god, she thought, I need to stop this. But then he was there, slowly teasing her, stroking the embers back into a raging inferno. Entering her just enough so that she could feel the stretch then pulling back out making her cry out from need.

"Look at me." He demanded as he pushed just a little further in then left her again bereft. She shook her head into the frame of his arm where she had her head buried. When she didn't comply with his demand, he moved her face to meet his. "Look at me." He demanded again, stroking her up and down her center.

God why did he have to be so stubborn? Didn't he know that she couldn't look at him? This was hard enough to get through for her, but looking at him, that would undue her. "Trust me Maria," He whispered against her closed eyes, "And look at me." Acting on their own accord her eyes fluttered open and met his. What she saw there scared and invigorated her at the same time, the love, the awe, the desire. Did she look the same to him, she wondered? Could he read her thoughts and know that she would give anything to be able to wear her heart on her sleeve like he did. She could see it there in his eyes, the love, just waiting for her to set it free.

"Don't close your eyes," he warned as he took her by surprise and moved completely within her. She cried out from the unfamiliar feeling of pleasure and pain. For a moment he didn't move, letting her get used to him filling her, stretching her. Finally he began a slow and gentle rhythm, still keeping his eyes locked on hers. "You're mine." He said, this time however, there was no denying it. Not from his tone or from what he was doing to her body. She had to agree with him, she could feel it all the way to her toes that she was indeed his. "Don't leave me." He begged as he brought the rhythm higher, stretching her arms over her head and locking them there. Now she could feel him against the entire length of her body, they were nose to nose and eye to eye and as the pressure built she had to fight not to close her eyes against it.

"I won't." She promised, although deep down she knew it was a promise that she couldn't keep. But right here, right now she didn't care. The only thing that mattered at the moment was her and him, together, fused, and try as she might she couldn't deny how right it all felt.

He kissed her then, deep and slow, as if sealing the pact. Letting go of her hands he braced himself higher above her, and rocked their bodies closer to the edge, still keeping his eyes locked on hers. The pressure built until she was tight and sizzling everywhere, each nerve pulsing and ready for release, she craved his touch, his mouth, his kiss. She was right on the edge, but still she wouldn't allow herself to fall. It was his words that undid her.

"Trust me Maria," he said, his eyes boring into hers that must have looked crazed with desire, "I've got you." When she couldn't fight it anymore, she closed her eyes and threw her head back surrendering to him.

"Oh god, Georg." She yelled and then held onto him for dear life, trusting him to take her to a place she had never been before. Somewhere in the middle of the chaos she felt him stiffen, his muscles pulled tight under her touch, on a shudder he released into her, moaning her name over and over again like a mantra. Collapsing on top of her, he whispered, "I love you," into her ear.

When she didn't answer him, he lifted his head that now seemed to be made of lead, and looked into her eyes, "One day, you'll say it back to me."

_Well there it is…I don't know how happy I am with this update. There's so much more I wanted to say, however, due to lack of time I feel this was rushed. _

_Hope you all like it though and please do review, even if you didn't like it, tell me where I let you down._


	31. Chapter 31

Chapter 31

Maria lay still on the hard floor. Between the weight of the Captains body and the ache of long unused muscles, she wasn't about to go anywhere. Unlike Bill, who always seemed invigorated by their love making, the Captain was completely exhausted. He had passed out minutes after their love making, leaving her his prisoner, trapped under the weight of him.

The thought of Bill stilled her fast beating heart. My God, she thought, what have I done? The tingles that had been running through her body stopped and turned into something else that soared through her veins restarting her heart filling it with guilt and condemnation.

"I'm a whore." She whispered out loud, mostly to herself as the realization of what she and the Captain had just done sunk into her. She had cheated on her Bill. Forsaken his memory and his love, she had been loose with her morals and her body. Confession this week would be an hour long, if she could even face the priest. "I'm a whore!" She said again, louder, as if confirming her own suspicions.

The Captain stirred against her, lifting his lazy head to look at her. Rolling his sleep filled eyes at her, he muttered, "Maybe, but you're my whore." Maria's eyes grew wide at what she suspected might have been a joke; however, to her there wasn't anything to joke about.

She slapped at his naked shoulder, pushing him off of her. She heard his exasperated sigh as she gathered her strewn clothes up, clutching them to her chest to hide her nakedness. She searched the floor for the last remaining article that eluded her search, her panties, finally finding them underneath the sofa. Lifting them up, she saw their ruin, the Captain having ripped them from her body, they were now a useless piece of material, torn and shattered from their love making. Maria held them in the air, silently taking in their state, symbolizing to her exactly how she felt inside. Torn and shattered. Or exactly how she thought she should feel inside.

Barley hearing the Captain's cries of her name and stop, she made her way to the stairs. She heard him rustling to his feet and tripping over his pant leg that was still wrapped around one of his ankles. She heard him correcting the mistake and making his way behind her, but she just went faster and faster up the stairs, reaching the bathroom and closing the door behind her. Leaning her bare back against the door, she took a moment to catch her breath. Her body shook with each intake of air and she tried to focus on the expanse of her lungs instead of the rush of adrenaline that coursed through her.

For a moment she let her mind wander to her inner turmoil. Even though she fought it, her mind couldn't help but pick at the question that was most prevalent in her brain. Was it the act itself that was upsetting her, or was it the fact that she didn't feel the way she thought she should feel after having committed it?

It had been eight years since Bill's death. And in those eight years she had thought once or twice of moving on when her weaknesses were at their lowest. Whenever she had imagined being in another's arms, a pang of guilt would build in the pit of her stomach. It would start low somewhere deep inside her and then engulf in flames and wrap itself around her heart like a fist. Moving away from the door, she stood in front of the mirror and stared into her own eyes. Where was that pain now, she wondered? Why wasn't it here telling her how wrong she had been?

Somewhere in the silence of her inner chaos, she more felt than heard the Captains gentle knock on the other side of the door.

"Maria," he began in a soothing voice, "please let me in." She knew the plea had less to do with entering the room than entering her heart. And she began to feel a familiar panic as she grappled a strong hold onto Bill's memory. Out of desperation she turned his pleading around in her gut into something that she could loathe, rebuilding her shattered being into something that she could handle.

Grabbing her robe off the bathroom hook she wrapped herself in its cloak, praying that it would hide the weakness she felt as she lathered herself up into a fake rage. In her mind she told herself that what she had to do next was for his own good, even as the image of Bill shaking his head at her in disappointment flittered through her imagination.

Ripping the door open, ready for battle, all fight left her when she saw his ravaged being standing, anxiously waiting for her assault. The worry in his eyes caused the air to still in her lungs as she fought off a pang of guilt for making him feel this way.

"You got what you wanted, Captain, you can go now." She said her rehearsed words; however instead of being filled with fire and fury meant to slash with pain as she had planned, they came out flat and monotone losing their effectiveness.

The Captain, sensing her acquiescence let a small smile play on his lips as he tentatively stepped towards her.

"Is that what you think this was, Maria?" He questioned her as if she were a small child. "A one night stand?" Averting her eyes from his, she clutched a little tighter to her robe, sensing a loss in the battle that had yet to rage.

Thinking back to the numerous romance novels she had read throughout her lifetime, she began to envy the fictional characters. Why couldn't her life simply be filled with flowers, romance, lust, and whimsy? Why couldn't she run into this man's arms and forget the world around her and let things take their natural course? Isn't that how it worked in those novels? The heroine and the hero finally allow themselves to fall in love and then all is right with their world.

Yet somehow she knew this wouldn't be the case for them. She could sense the disaster of their lives in the room with them. It was thick in the air, standing just inches away from them. A dark blob of doom hovering just over their heads, waiting for its chance to engulf them.

The Captain grabbed her around her waist gently, and pulled her close to his body. Holding her in a loose embrace, he brought his head down and sniffed her hair. God dammit! She yelled at her knees, stop being so weak!

"You didn't answer my question, Maria." He whispered into her hair, when she refused to meet his eyes since her own eyes suddenly became fascinated with his bare chest, refusing to leave their position. "Do you honestly think that is all I wanted from you? A one night stand?"

"Yes," she lied. Roughly he held her at arm's length. His huge hands steadied her elbows so that he could see into her eyes. The steal of his gaze made her retract her lie, "No," she reaffirmed causing a sigh of relief to escape his lips. "But it's all it can be."

She watched as the surprise crossed his face quickly, only to be replaced with frustration. They stood there silent as he waited for her to explain herself. The only thing she could think to say was a simple, "I can't." The two lonely words had barely escaped her lips when the fury that she had lost within herself found a new host in the Captain.

"It's not that you can't Maria!" He spat in her face as he let go of her and in a rage continued to redress himself. "It's that you won't!" His balled shirt caught most of his anger as he violently shook it out and slammed his arms into each hole. Suddenly Maria felt very sorry for the torment she was putting his buttons through as he mercilessly grabbed each one. A few didn't last under his fire, those he threw across the room. All the while an on slot of painful accusations poured from his mouth. Most of which, Maria couldn't deny were true.

"You're scared!" He yelled grabbing the last remaining button. The poor thing held on by a thread as it went through its little hole. "It scares you to think that this could be something wonderful! It scares you to think that what most people can't find once in a lifetime is standing right here in front of you for the second time. And it scares you to think of what will happen if it all comes crashing down!"

Finished with the abuse of his shirt, he crushed his arms into his jacket, balling his tie into one of his pockets. He took a second to straighten himself out, and then he turned his glaring gaze back onto her, "Doesn't it Maria?" He demanded. When she didn't answer, he pushed her against the tiled bathroom wall. For a moment she thought he was going to hit her when he raised his hand, she flinched as it landed next to her head, the thundering slap echoed against the tiles.

"Doesn't it!" He demanded a second time, this time; however it came out as a hiss across her face.

Fighting back the sobs, for long ago she had lost the battle with her tears, all she could manage was a slight nod of her head. Suddenly the demanding and over bearing Captain disappeared again, replaced by the one which she loved. The one that she knew would protect her from any harm, the one which she knew would always be her shoulder to cry upon, which he offered to her now, as he gathered her lithe form against his body and soothed her racking sobs with strokes to her back.

"I know, Maria. I'm scared too." He whispered into her ear. "When Agathe died I told myself I would never love again. I would never bring anything into my life that would let me feel hurt again. But I was wrong. So so wrong. You made me see that. Won't you try and see it too?"

She wanted to say yes. She wanted the world around her to disappear and melt away and leave them in peace. However, the ache from her damaged wrist reminded her, that their life was no fairytale. It was more a nightmare, one which she needed to end before they couldn't wake from it.

Pressing a kiss against his neck she whispered her answer, "I can't." Instantly she felt his muscles go rigid again. She hated hurting him like this, but what was she to do?

Releasing his grip from her he walked away; pacing the small bathroom, jamming is hand into his already tussled hair in frustration.

"Give me one good reason why not, Maria." He stated coming to a standstill inches from her face.

Maria was never good at thinking fast in an argument. She could calculate a scientific formula faster than the speed of light, but when it came to personal confrontation, she was the tortoise against the hare.

"Well for one," she started, buying herself some time by starting the tub, "in two week's time you are heading for England and I, for America." Pouring her bath salts into the pooling water, she internally smiled for coming up with a good one on the spot. Surely, he couldn't find an argument against that one.

The Captain sat on the edge of the tub, where most of Maria's attention was centered in swirling the salts into the hot water.

"You and the children could come with us." He stated, stilling Maria's movements in the water. She had feared that that was going to be his reply. What she hadn't expected was the beating of her heart from hearing him say the words, again. For hadn't he asked her the same question the other afternoon? Only then she had thought he had meant as his mistress, but now she knew he wanted something more. Something she would never be able to give him—her heart. Although truth be told—she stopped her thought there. No, she shook the thought right out of her mind. She couldn't love the Captain, she loved Bill. She would always love him—but…

Standing up from the tub, she looked into his eyes. With him sitting on the tub they were eye level to each other and for a moment Maria took in his appearance. His tousled hair, his disheveled clothes, the sullen look in his eyes and she couldn't help herself. She leaned in and pressed a chaste kiss against his lips. She only allowed her lips to linger momentarily, unprepared for her body's desire to deepen the kiss without her consent, she rested her forehead against his to stop herself from starting something she couldn't finish.

"I can't." She whispered against the worried flesh between his eyes. When he winced against her answer, she smoothed the wrinkles he created there with her nose. She hated seeing him like this. If anyone had told her she would have ever held Georg von Trapp in her arms like a vulnerable child six weeks ago, she would have laughed in their faces. But now, here he was, begging her to love him and all she could do was soothe his broken heart as hers shattered into a million pieces.

Wrapping his arms around her, the Captain pulled her into his lap and cradled her there, like a baby. She could feel his muscles strain from balancing her weight against him and balancing himself on the tub.

"Maria," he whispered against her cheek, "I can't compete with a ghost."

"Then don't." She choked out against the lump in her throat.

"Stop making me."

"I'm not."

He lifted her chin so that she had no choice but to look into his eyes.

"I'm sitting here, asking you to come to England with me and start a new life as my wife. And you are denying me because of a memory."

Maria took a deep breath. He was right. Well, partly right.

"I'm not denying you simply because of Bill though he is a big part of it." She looked down into the swirling waters of the tub. Suddenly the movement of the water became the most fascinating thing in the room as she fought off telling him her real reasons for not wanting to go to England with him, but he had been honest with her. Why was it so hard for her to do the same with him?

"I won't go with you to England, because I already watched one man that I love die before his time." Bringing her gaze off of the water she met his eyes. She needed to do this right if he were to understand her, "I'm not about to do it again, Captain."

The Captain closed his eyes against her words hugging her tightly to his chest. There—she thought, she had told him her feelings without having to say the words. Maybe now, he could understand where she was coming from.

Maria pushed herself to her feet, leaving his lap. Then stood waiting for him to leave the room so she could soak her body in the warm cleansing waters of the tub. When the Captain didn't move from his post on the side of the tub, she raised her eyebrows in question to him.

"Captain," she said when he didn't move, "I would like to bathe now."

The Captain swooped his hand over the tub as if in invitation, "Go ahead." He said getting up from his sitting position, though; he still didn't make any move to leave the room.

"Captain!" She whined when she figured out that he had no intention of leaving her in privacy.

"Maria," he said on sigh while rolling his eyes at her, "we just made love an hour ago—I think I can see you naked."

On Maria's gasp, he let out a chuckle then turned his back to her.

"Fine," he said, "I'm not looking. You can get into the tub now."

Quickly she disrobed all the while keeping a keen eye on his back to make sure he didn't turn around. Without hesitation she jumped into the water while fisting the curtain into her hand pulling it around the tub for privacy. When she was sure he couldn't see her, she sunk down into the water. Instantly the heat began to soothe her tense muscles and she let out a sigh from the relief.

From the other side of the curtain she heard the Captain laugh again, "How's the water?"

"Wonderful." She moaned and sunk her head into the depths of the tub. If she had stayed above the water she may have heard the rustling coming from the Captains position of the room. As it were, she just soaked and let her head lay just so her nose was over the water, allowing the soothing ripples of the water to ebb over her. She had just entered complete relaxation when the curtain was pulled back, revealing a very naked Captain. Bolting upright from the scare she quickly covered her bare breasts and then tore her gaze away from the manliest male part of the Captain's anatomy that was right in front of her face.

"CAPTAIN!" She exclaimed against his intrusion. When he climbed into the tub behind her, she thought she would die. "What are you doing?"

The Captain busied himself with fitting his form behind her in the narrow space. Though the tub was large enough for Liam and Lynn to swim in together, it was a little tight for two grown adults. Fitting himself behind her, the Captain pushed his legs alongside the walls of the tub, and then pulled Maria's back against him. As if in a daze Maria watched in silence and like a rag doll flopped against his chest. Her eyes grew so large she thought the muscles might burst from the strain.

"You said before that this was a one night stand," The Captain stated as he reached for the soap, "but the nights not over yet." He lathered the soap in his hands into a frothy mess, "If all I get is one night, Maria," he said as he placed the soap down then began to message her neck and back with his silken hands, "I'm going to make the most of it." Acting on its own accord, Maria's body moved forward in the tub, giving the Captain further access to her back. The muscles in her back relaxed as his touch restarted the fire in the pit of her stomach again. Up and down his hands stroked her skin that wasn't under the water, kneading the flesh that he touched into an inferno. Her breath began to hitch, even as her mind bickered with itself for letting him do this to her for a second time.

She did let out a pitiful, "Captain!" Though it was meant to be a chastisement it came out more of a moan, as he began to message up and down her arms, just touching the swell of her breasts as he went along.

Taking her arms and placing them on either side of the tub he pulled her shoulders against his chest, so that she once again rested upon him. She was left open to a frontal assault from the Captain, as he gathered more soap onto his hands. When she moved to stand from the water, the Captain wrapped his leg around hers, making her his prisoner.

"What is with the 'Captain' nonsense, Maria?" He asked her as he began to stoke up and down her exposed flesh in the front. "An hour ago you were screaming my name in ecstasy." Neck to torso he teased, just missing where she wanted to feel his touch the most, even as she argued with herself over the propriety of what they were doing. How could she be so weak as to let him seduce her again?

When he cupped her breasts into each of his hands, then smoothed his fingers up the curve to pinch each nipple simultaneously, she arched the lower part of her body out of the tub on a guttural moan. And she knew her answer—because he was heaven and didn't she always want to go to heaven? Wasn't that what she strived for her entire life, to go to heaven? She wasn't about to run away from it now. Maybe just this one last time wouldn't be so bad? She did owe herself that didn't she?

"_You turn, turn, turn, turning me on__  
>Like a slow fire burn <em>_  
>Know that it's wrong<em>_  
>Still I run, run, run, run right into you<em>_  
>Yeah, I run, run, run, run right into you<em>"

The Captain sang the words into her ear. Her words, the words she had written when she couldn't stop imagining him doing to her the very things he was indeed doing to her right now. Whispering them against her skin, they in turn, became part of his seduction, the wisps of his breaths fluttering against her skin while his hand sunk under the water. In rhythm his fingers stroked her, on each word and note, playing her like an instrument making her cry out in crescendo.

Arching her body out of the water, she wrapped her arm around the back of his head bringing his ear close to her lips. Grabbing his lobe between her teeth, she moaned the one word he wanted her hear the most from her. "Georg."

The Captain bucked beneath her in the water, his hands stilling their movements momentarily, grabbing her skin where they touched her against her sudden seduction. Inwardly, Maria smiled to herself. It didn't take much on her part to seduce this man, but still she was proud that she could do it. Without warning she turned the tables on the Captain. Suddenly, he became the one being seduced as Maria flipped over in the water taking him by surprise as she straddled her legs over his body. Trying not to laugh at his wide eyes, Maria settled herself just over his very eager manhood. Taking the Captains arms that lay helplessly in the water, she placed them on either side of the tub, resting them there. Slowly she caressed up his arms, to his neck, down his torso, taking great care when she came to his ribs and never breaking eye contact with him. Especially when she reached his most manly part, gently stroking him from the base to the top as she helped guide him into her.

"Just this one last time." She said as inch by excruciating inch she sunk down on him. The Captain moaned and threw his head back as she finally sheathed him inside of her. For a moment she didn't move, taking just a moment to feel him filling her completely. Lifting herself up she began a slow rhythm, wanting to make this last as long as possible.

"_You pull me in close__  
>You buckle my knees<em>  
><em>I shake and I shiver just to feel you breathe.<em>_"_ She sang the words in time with her movements drawing out each note to prolong the Captains torture. Beneath her he writhed and begged in her ear to go faster.  
>"<em>You trace my lines<br>Stirring my soul__  
>Shoot sparks at the heart of the world and I watch it explode"<em>

"You're going to be the death of me." He exclaimed as he grabbed her hips and set a new rhythm for himself. Pulling her body up and down faster and faster, slamming into her. She was ready to explode but she held back waiting for him.

" _I'm amazing when you're beside me  
>I am so much more" <em>

He sang the words into her ear, sending her to the top of the mountain where she teetered on the edge, waiting for him to take flight with her. When she couldn't take any more, she flew as high as she ever had, his release the wind beneath her making her soar as far as the heavens above.

"_Like a slow fire burn __  
>Know that it's wrong<em>_  
>Still I run, run, run, run right into you<em>_  
>Yeah, I run, run, run, run right into you<br>Still I run, run, run, run right back to you"_

She finished the song against his chest as she caught her breath, listening to the fast beating of his heart. Running his hands through her hair, he lifted her head up to look into her face.

"Marry me, Maria." He asked, hugging her body even closer against his, while the water lapped at her backside.

She snuggled into his neck, shaking her head in answer to his question.

"I wish I could, Georg. But I can't."

_I know you all are hating me right now, but, this was just a quick update, that took forever to write. I didn't even proof read before I posted so please forgive me. As it is I'm late getting ready for work, but I wanted to get this posted. I will try and keep my muse and get another chapter up quickly, but I can't make any promises. Hope you all enjoy this and not to worry, I hate unhappy endings, so things are going to work out between the two. They just have to work a little harder to get there._


	32. Chapter 32

Chapter 32

In the morning, he took her again, just as the first rays of light were kissing the waters of the lake. Spooning behind her, the Captain cocooned her in his strength and for a minute, Maria felt shielded from the world. This was the first night she had spent in a long time where she hadn't woken from a nightmare, and for a moment Maria allowed herself to feel whole again. Silently she wished she had the power to stop the sun from rising, putting an end to their perfect night. Although in the end it wasn't the sun that ended their solitude.

Running his hand down Maria's outstretched arm, the Captain grabbed her hand and brought it up to his lips to kiss. If the room had been a little darker, he might not have noticed, but as it was he held her hand up in the smattering of sunlight filtering in through the window, examining the bruise around her wrist.

"My God," he exclaimed, sitting up in the bed and resting her wrist in his lap, "When did I do this to you?"

Running his fingers through his hair, Maria could almost hear his inward battle with himself, chastising himself for being brutal to her body. A quick guilty feeling settled upon her and she simply couldn't allow him to think that he had been the one to mark her skin in such a way.

"Georg…Georg!" She repeated his name when he didn't respond to her, "you didn't do this."

"I didn't do this?" He repeated back to her on unbelieving breath, blinking from his confusion.

"No, it wasn't you." As soon as she had said the words, Maria knew she was in trouble. Had she been thinking, she should have simply said that it was an accident. Instead she had implied the truth, which was that_ someone_ had indeed put the bruise around her wrist, though that someone wasn't him.

Instantly the Captain was angry, Maria could tell, and ready to exact revenge on the culprit that had hurt her.

"Then who was it!" He demanded his tone ominous. "Who did this to you?" He asked again as she ignored him getting out of the bed and fetching herself a nightshirt. Slipping the buttoned oversized garment over her head, she pointed to the clock in an attempt to change the subject.

"Georg, its 5:30. The children will be getting up soon. We had better get back over to the house before they wake and figure out that neither of us slept there last night."

Shaking his head at her obvious attempt to change the subject, the Captain removed himself from the bed, violently throwing the covers against the footboard. Gathering up his scattered garments, he stopped momentarily, glancing out the window of her small bedroom towards the main house.

She watched as a tremor ran through his body at whatever thought had just entered his mind.

"What's the matter?" She asked him, while watching him dress his naked form. Sighing to herself and biting her lower lip watching the muscles in his legs ripple as he placed them into his pants. When had she become a swooning school girl again? Who was she kidding, when had she ever been one before?

The Captain gave her a silly smirk, and then glanced back to the window.

"For some reason I can't shake the feeling that when I walk through my front door, I'm going to see a ten year old little boy holding a shotgun that's bigger than he is, waiting for my arrival."

Maria laughed as a fleeting image of Liam trying to raise the shotgun at a very nervous Captain floated through her mind.

"You're probably right." She said to him as he finished dressing himself, coming to stand before her. Drawing her closer to him he ran his hand up her back while smoothing the other around her hip to her backside. He tilted her head to give himself full access to her neck, running his nose from the bottom of her ear down to her pounding pulse. Taking a moment to suck on her flesh there, he turned her legs into jelly once more. Last night she had thought that he was heaven, now she was thinking he was the devil himself, having already stolen her soul.

"Though after what I did to his mother last night, I really don't think I could blame the boy." If his touch was like lightning, his words were thunder, shattering through her skin, rippling her blood into lava. Briefly she wondered if they had spent a million nights together if she would always feel this way. That is until her belly did a flip flop as he nibbled on her ear. Oh yeah, it would. Too bad she couldn't allow it.

Cradling her head in both his hands, the Captain steadied her face to look into her eyes, "Do you regret it?" He asked her and she could tell he was afraid to hear her answer. Slightly shaking her head that he held still, he sighed from the movement, bringing his face down upon hers and kissed her forehead.

"This could work, you know." He said on a sigh. "But only if you allow it to." Raising her injured wrist up, he kissed the bruises on her flesh. "And only if you trust me."

"I do trust you." Was her frustrated response. Why couldn't he get it through his thick head, it was better for him just to stay out of her messed up life. No good could come from him getting involved with her. She was only trying to protect him and the best way she knew how to do that was to push him away.

"If you trust me, then tell me who did this to you." The Captain stated, standing in his regal manner all business again.

"It's already been taken care of." She was going to stop there, but then clarified for him when he raised his eyebrows at her in question. "Daniel, the gardener," when she saw that he still didn't recognize the man she finished, "Baroness Schraeder's friend." Finally he nodded his head in recognition as she saw a slight shadow cross his features.

"He did this to you!" The Captain exclaimed with venom.

"No, no of course not." Maria let out an exasperated sigh. She was going to have to explain more than what she had hoped to get away with. Why was sharing information with him so much harder than sharing her body with him, she wondered as she formulated the best way to break the news about Daniels true identity to him.

"Daniel works for me…" Stuttering on the word she quickly corrected herself, "my father in law. I had a little trouble at the cottage after you left yesterday morning and Daniel came and took care of it."

The Captain took all of this in, his eyes becoming hooded and dark. Again Maria became mystified at how fast he could turn from a passionate loving man to the formidable one that stood in front of her now.

"What kind of trouble?"

"The two men we saw at the Abbey the other afternoon showed up on my doorstep after you had left yesterday morning." She tried to make it sound like it had been nothing. No big deal at all. As if they had been about as annoying as having two flies enter her house unwanted. However, she could tell he wasn't buying any of it.

Maria had spent the better part of eight years formulating plots on how not to allow her true identity to come to light. Standing here in front of the Captain it was hard for her to turn that way of life around and speak openly about that part of herself that she had kept hidden for so long. Her Aunt had taken care of the hardest part for her already, Maria remembered grudgingly. Now, she had no choice but to be honest with him.

She took great care in recounting the exchange that took place between her and the two ogres yesterday. She told him how she had sent for Daniel through the maid that he had sent over, when she had felt that she might be in physical danger. She had thought that finally being able to tell him the truth would be a relief. However, as her tale went on and on, she could see the anger settle over the Captains features making her regret her decision. When she finally finished speaking, she waited silently for a response from the Captain.

"Where are those two scoundrels now?" He asked her, sitting on the bed leaning forward as if the weight of the world had just been placed on his shoulders.

"I don't know." She spoke honestly trying to figure out if he was angry with her or simply the two beasts. "Daniel took them somewhere to be questioned. I haven't seen him or the men since."

The Captain nodded his head silently, looking directly at the floor instead of her.

"Georg…" she started but stopped when he lifted a silencing had in her direction.

Keeping his gaze centered on the floor, the Captain shook his head in disbelief. Taking a deep breath of air he finally raised his head to look at her and the look she saw their stopped her heart. It was utter disappointment and betrayal and her heart sank as he bore it into her eyes.

"Do you know how that makes me feel?" He asked her standing from the bed to pace the room in a militant stride. Not able to find her voice right away, Maria didn't answer him. Nor did she understand his question. How what makes him feel? The fact that she was physically attacked? She was the one that should be upset about it not him. After a few turns around the room, the Captain stopped in front of her and asked her again, though this time more in depth, "Do you have any idea how it makes me feel that you went to another man instead of me for help?"

So that was what upset him the most, Maria was flabbergasted. It wasn't the fact that she had been assaulted, but the fact that he was jealous of another man! Unbelievable!

"Cap…Georg," she corrected herself at his annoyed expression, "you didn't know…"

"It shouldn't have mattered!" He yelled over her.

"It does matter," Her own voice booming louder than his, her temper having flown out the window. "Or it did matter. I was only trying to protect you Georg. The less you know of me, the better it is for you. Can't you understand that now? The Nazi's want control of that railroad and they will stop at nothing to get to it. If they can't get it through Vilhelm and they can't get it through me, what do you think their next strategy will be? Violence against those we care about."

"I don't understand." He muttered starting up his pacing again. "You don't have anything to do with Kutschera von Helstin shipping. It's not like you run the business, you only married into it. What do they hope to gain by threatening you?"

Maria took a moment, blinking in confusion at his last statement. Suddenly, it occurred to her that she didn't know exactly what it had been that her Aunt had revealed to the Captain during her little chat with him yesterday.

"What did my Aunt tell you about my past yesterday?" She asked him.

"What do you mean?"

"How did you find out that my last name was von Helstin?"

The Captain sighed and ran his hand along the back of his neck. Sweeping his eyes across her, she could see an inner turmoil within himself, "Your Aunt simply told me that your father in law—her brother—liked to rule both of your lives. That he had used you when you were younger to secure himself heirs to the business before his son died. She accidently let it slip that Vilhelm von Helstin was the man that she was speaking of. She didn't mean to reveal your identity, Maria. She's worried about you. She said she was tired of watching you run away from your life and wants to see you happy again."

Maria sank onto the edge of the bed, her own weight becoming too much for her to bear for the moment. She should have known that her Aunt wouldn't have betrayed her. She had simply been trying to play matchmaker. Glancing up at the Captain, she couldn't help the small smile that played on her lips. Fleeting images of last night's events played through her mind. She reminded herself to thank Aunt Adelaide the next time she saw her.

The Captain looked down at Maria, a mixture of concern and confusion darkening the features of his face. Meanwhile Maria battled with herself over whether or not to leave things as they were or to dive in head first. Looking upon the man that she could no longer deny that she loved, she knew she couldn't lie to him any longer.

"When I came to Austria with the children," She began fixing her eyes to her lap, "I took my mother's maiden name, Rainer, because I didn't want my children to have to grow up under the cloud of their true last name. After the Great War, von Helstin wasn't such a popular name here in Austria."

"No, no it wasn't." The Captain agreed with her.

"Neither was my maiden name, that's why I chose my mothers. No one's ever heard of the Rainer's from America." Chancing a glance at the Captain, Maria could see that he was waiting for her to clarify.

"Captain…Georg- my full name is Maria Rainer _Kutschera_ von Helstin." She paused here and looked at him, "I am the daughter of…"

"Sigmund Kutschera." He finished for her. Chancing another glance at the Captain her heart broke as he now looked upon her with pity. It was the same look she saw every day on the streets of her home town after _that night _as she liked to refer to it. The same look she saw everywhere for that matter, for who did not know the tale of the business tycoon who went crazy one night and killed his wife and himself after failing to kill his daughter as well. Or at least, they knew the story that Vilhelm had concocted after Maria had finally ran to him for safety. Only Maria, Vilhelm, Bill and Adelaide knew the real story and they had vowed to die with the truth.

The Captain sank down on his knees before her, cautiously lifting his hand; he pushed away the collar to her shirt revealing the lower part of her neck. Tracing a butterfly touch across her collar bone he stopped on the ugly scar that still marked her skin from that night.

"I had wondered how you had gotten this scar." He whispered. Though time had healed the skin, the memory was still painful to the touch, burning Maria through and through. Taking a seat on the bed next to her, the Captain gathered her into his arms. Placing a gentle kiss against her head, he whispered, "I'm sorry Maria."

Inwardly Maria cried to herself. He would never look at her the same again, she thought. Now he was like everyone else who knew who she really was. They all saw her as a victim, a shattered being with scars too ugly to hide.

"I don't want your pity." She said against the pain as the walls began to rebuild themselves around her heart.

"Maria," he sighed against her hair, "I love you. I don't pity you." Taking her face in her hands he spoke softly to her, "You hurt, I hurt. I don't pity you; I just want to help you. Save you."

"Captain, save yourself. You don't want me, I'm damaged goods. No good will ever come of me." Maria repeated back the familiar phrase that she had heard her father speak of her countless times. No—she reaffirmed in herself, she was no good. And if the Captain ever found out what really happened that night, how she really survived her father's massacre, he would then know the truth that lay within herself. That her father had been right.


	33. Chapter 33

Chapter 33

As it turned out, it wasn't Liam waiting on the staircase for their return to the man house, but Max, looking like an angry father ready to kill his teenage daughters' suitor. If he had one, that was. Since they had snuck in through the back door of the servants' quarters, after bringing Franz's "truck" back to the garage, the two silent lovers almost tripped over their sentry who was waiting for their return on the bottom step of the foyer.

With arms crossed against his chest, he cocked his jaw to the side and chucking against the inside of his cheek, he questioned, "Have a nice evening?" Not even attempting to hide his annoyance with them. "Oh, wait, what I mean is did you both have an enjoyable night, since evening was over hours ago."

"I'm sorry, old man," the Captain began, "the truck, it ahh, broke down and we were stuck out on…" the Captain took a moment thinking up a road, desolate enough to have kept them from calling home… "Beaver kill road, we would have called but ahh..there was no phone for miles" Maria knew a thing or two about interrogations and how to access if someone was lying. She was sure at this very moment, had the Captain ever been captured by his enemy, he would have failed interrogation.

Max held up his hand to silence his forbidding friend. Shaking his head he said, "Isn't that funny," his words dripped with sarcasm as he unfolded his frame from his sitting position, which he must have been in for a while since Maria had to reach out and steady him on his feet. "Beaver kill road looks an awful like the back of the cottage." Taking his hand and slapping his forehead as if an idea had just entered his mind that he needed to get out, he snapped his fingers in the air on an "ah hah" and continued, "but I do surmise that the bedroom to the kitchen phone is probably miles away, so I guess I could forgive you two for being so rude, making us all worry all night long!"

Maria had been embarrassed many times in her life. Her kids managed to embarrass her some way or another every time they were out in public. Of course there was that one time, when she and Bill had been on their honeymoon when he hadn't seen the older couple in the coroner of the corridor of their hotel where he had answered her question of "What do you want to do now?" , with "Have passionate nookie." That had been truly embarrassing, but she was able to hide behind her closed hotel door once they had gotten inside. Now, however, she had to stand with her cheeks blazing and face this man who was calling them out on their indiscretion. Without moving her head, she searched the dimly lit foyer with her eyes looking for a hole to crawl into.

"How did you know?" The Captain asked, not looking the least bit bothered from being found a scoundrel.

"Daniel, Elsa's gardener, he was worried when he found out that you both hadn't returned from your excursion, after sweeping the grounds he informed us of your whereabouts." Looking over their shoulder, he continued, "I'm surprised he isn't here with you."

Sharing a glance at each other, the Captain asked what was on both of their minds, "Why would he be with us?"

"He camped out on the lawn of the cottage last night. He said he needed to make sure that Maria was protected." Throwing his hands up in confusion, he mumbled, "Isn't that odd?"

Oh wait, Maria thought to herself, as her stomach dropped into her gut, now she was embarrassed. As she remembered their last session together this morning in her bed that was right next to the window that faced the front lawn of the cottage hadn't been the quietest.

"Well then," the Captain broke the silence, "if you knew where we were and that we were all right, you certainly didn't need to wait up for us, old man." The Captain grabbed Maria by the hand, patting Max on the shoulder as he began to ascend the stairs.

"Ha ha, very funny," Max looked down at his watch, "humor at six in the morning. I didn't wait up for you. However, after the seventh child came and disturbed my sleep to inform me that Fraulein Maria wasn't in her room, I gave up on the notion of sleep." Max pushed past them on the stairs as the two culprits took in this new information. Dammit, Maria cursed to herself, she was hoping the children had slept through the night. "The hilarious part to me is," Max said as he stopped two stairs above them and turned to face them, "they were mostly your children Georg, and they only asked about Fraulein Maria." Turning back around he continued up the stairs leaving a very disgruntled Captain gaping after him, "isn't that funny?" He said as he resumed his journey.

"Hilarious," was the Captain's retort.

"Anyway," Max said still with his back to them as they followed him up the staircase, "you two are going to have a lot of explaining to do. I wish I could be there for it, but _I'M GOING TO BED NOW!" _He said this last part loud enough to wake the Spanish armada across the land and ocean.

Somewhere down the corridor they heard a door close, with eyes gone wide, the two lovers released the others hand, both taking off in full speed towards their perspective bedroom doors.

Slamming into her sanctuary, Maria pressed her back against her closed bedroom door catching her breath, hoping against all hopes that whoever had come out of their bedroom hadn't seen her escape. Glancing at her bed, she was surprised to see a lump residing in the middle of it. Oh no, she thought, Lynn must have come and slept in her bed last night. She would know that her mother had never made it under its covers.

To her surprise, the lump began to move; only it wasn't Lynn's face that sat up and stared at her, but the Baroness's. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, the Baroness quickly took in her surroundings, squinting at Maria she let out a loud yawn then lay back down. Rolling over onto her side, she mumbled, "We thought the children would sleep if they thought I was you in your bed. According to them you and Georg arrived home at three-thirty after having some car trouble." While Maria formulated in her mind what the Baroness had just said, the speaker fell back to sleep.

Standing there, Maria realized how extremely tired she was. Emotionally and physically. Shrugging her shoulders, she pushed the Baroness over in her bed making an adequate space for herself. Climbing in next to her, she couldn't help but laugh. These last few days filled with emotional turmoil had also been days filled with adult follies. When she thought about it, the children's behavior had been exemplary compared to that of their adult counter parts.

"What is so funny?" The Baroness mumbled in a sleepy state.

"I don't know, I think I'm just tired."

Without missing a beat, the Baroness replied, "I bet you are." This sent Maria into a fit of laughter that she couldn't contain. It was nice to laugh. Sometimes you just had to laugh, especially when life doesn't give you much to laugh at. So she let it all out, she was almost hysterical, until the Baroness smacked her in the head with her pillow. Then both of them were overcome with the case of the giggles until their stomachs hurt from the effort. When they finally calmed down the Baroness stared up at the ceiling of Maria's bedroom.

"Maria," she sighed, "you are a problem I can't solve."

Taken aback by the Baroness's confession, Maria turned to her current bed partner with puzzled eyes. Greeting Maria's stare with a smirk on her face the Baroness continued, "You're making me like you. And that makes things difficult for me. Because if you hurt Georg, I'm going to have to hate you and I just don't know if I can."

Maria let out the breath that she had been holding. "If I hurt him, it's only for his own good." Sparing a glance at her new friend, "You should know that." Thinking about what had to be done, a silent tear ran down her cheek, "I only have his best interest at heart."

TSOM_

After the breakfast meal which included a tale so large from the Captain as to his and Maria's whereabouts the previous night, Maria was sure that he had invented Santa Claus as well. His story was so unbelievable it was believable. For a moment Maria had actually thought she _had_ lived the events that he was describing.

Meanwhile, Max, still in revenge mode, kept interrupting the Captain with snide comments and over the top questions. The Captain for his part would glare down at his best friend after each and every question that he rose causing the Captain to go into greater detail each time. Until finally the Captain jabbed Max in the hand with his fork, claiming a nervous tick as Max cried out in pain.

When the table had finally gone quiet and the giggles subsided, Maria took a deep breath searching for the courage within herself to break the news that she was about to give. She had spent the last few remaining sleeping hours wide awake this morning thinking of what had to be done. After last night, she knew she could no longer stay here. If she did, she would lose her heart completely and she just simply couldn't do that.

Swallowing against the lump in her throat she broke the silence. "Children," she began, "I have something I need to tell you." Glancing over at the Captain she saw a tension mount on his shoulders as he narrowed his eyes at her. He knew, he had to know what she was going to say. "Lynn, Liam," she addressed her two, "Aunt Adelaide is being reassigned to an abbey in America. She'll be leaving Austria at the end of the week." Maria watched as the shock of her news settled upon her children. In the years that they had spent here in Austria, they of course had become extremely close to their Great Aunt. Considering her more a Grandmother than an Aunt.

Maria hadn't told her children that she was planning on leaving Austria; she was hoping by giving them this news first it would soften the next blows.

"Mother," Lynn cried, "Aunt Adelaide can't leave us! We'll never see her."

"Actually Lynn, there's something I haven't told you." Maria watched as the questions began to fill her children's eyes. Liam however guessed before she could reveal the answers.

"We're moving to America too, aren't we Mother?" It was more an accusation than a question.

Biting on her cheek, Maria mumbled, "Yes, in two weeks we will be on a boat heading back to New York."

Her daughter cried out as the news settled upon her. Unconsciously Lynn and Brigitta grabbed each other's hands while her son cried out, "That's not fair!"

"Yeah!" Kurt and Friedrich agreed with him.

Christ on a cracker how was she going to get through this next part?

Through the cries of all the children she heard the Captain's disdainful, "Maria".

Trudging on through she put the last piece of her plan into motion before she lost her nerve.

"Children," she began in her most authoritative tone, "we are leaving Austria and that is the end of it." Taking a breath to let her stance settle upon the children she continued, "And since we won't be here to celebrate your birthday, I thought it would be nice if we took the von Trapp children to your grandfathers house in Vols this week along with Aunt Addy to celebrate a little early."

"Maria," the Captain again interrupted her as he had done three pervious times during her last speech. Each time his tone became more and more clipped as she ignored him and avoided his eyes.

Silence fell upon the table as each child glanced from one parent to the other. Max and Elsa had fallen back somewhere in the shadows, manning down any instrument that the Captain might be able to throw at Maria's head. There was a new tension in the room and the children seemed to be able to guess that it didn't have anything to do with them or the impending departure of their friends.

"Maria," the Captain began again, "may I see you out in the hallway?" Taking his napkin from his lap he began to stand from the table.

"No." Maria answered, her refusal snapping him to attention.

Smirking against her insubordination, the Captain let out a little growl which he masked by a cough, "I think we need to discuss this." He said through clenched teeth as all the children found interest within the wall in front of them.

Meeting his gaze for the first time, she set her jaw in determination. "There's nothing to discuss. My mind is made up."

In reality this was the hardest part for her. To look at him as if last night hadn't happened. To pretend that it didn't mean a thing to her and then turn around and rip his heart out in front of all the children. This had to be one of the worst things she had ever done in her life and it was taking all of her energy to not crumble under it. The only thing that kept her going was the ticker she ran through her mind over and over again, 'It's for his own good'. Even if deep down she knew it was just an excuse she was using so that she could take the cowards way out again.

"Will the Captain be coming with us to Vols?" Liam's question broke through her silent thoughts, wrenching her heart.

Smiling down at her son, she answered for the Captain, "No Liam. The Captain has a dinner party to plan for next weekend."

Slamming out of her chair, Maria's normally reserved daughter declared, "Then I'm not going," then ran out of the room.

Before she could go after her, Liam stood up and threw his napkin on his plate, "Neither am I.", hobbling after his sister.

Following her children's dust trail, she was captured by an awaiting Captain as she walked past him. Taking her by the arm he dragged her out into the hallway and down to his study. Closing the door behind them he turned and faced her with fury in his eyes.

"If you want to regret last night, fine. But don't take it out on the children."

"I'm not taking anything out on the children. These were our plans before I met you. We are leaving for America. End of story. Chapter and verse."

"Don't lie to me or yourself, Maria. You're running and dragging your children along with you." Violently he opened the door walking out of the room, once over the threshold he faced her one last time, "You're hurting them, but you're so lost in trying to keep your little cocoon intact you can't even see it."

Taken aback by his truthful words she barely acknowledged his head nod towards the back windows of his study after he left. Glancing over to the windows she saw all nine children gathered in a tight group skipping rocks across the surface of the lake. Joining them the retreated Captain stepped in between Lynn and Liam running his hands along their shoulders. Hoisting Liam up in his arms he gave her boy a hug and brought Lynn closer to his side, bending over giving the top of her hair a kiss. Then he went around and caressed each cheek that had formed a circle around the sad trio.

In the silence of the room Maria heard her heart break as she watched the group from the window. She had always thought that it was only her that loved all of the children like her own family. That it would only be her who would grieve at the end of the summer when they all had to go their separate ways. How she had missed it, she wasn't sure, but somehow, someway, they had become a family. A family that was about to be broken apart. Only this time it wasn't death that would separate them. No, she thought as she watched the Captain walk the group over to the boat. Each child got in, taking their places. The Captain still holding Liam sat the boy on is lap, allowing Friedrich and Kurt to row.

No, she thought again as Daniel came into view and watched as her children disappeared in the boat with the Captain, holding his sentry position. No it wouldn't be death that would separate them, just circumstance.


	34. Chapter 34

Chapter 34

Packing the last of her clothes into the suitcase, Maria forced the latch closed placing the item near the doorway of her cottage bedroom. Stepping to her dressing table she began to pack their last remaining articles into a small box. All in all, it had taken her less than an hour to pack all of their belongings for the journey to her father in laws house.

Gingerly wrapping her toiletries in paper for the trip, it hit her how sad that was. She and the children had been in Austria for eight years and they could pack their lives in one large box. It was kind of sad when she thought about it. Thinking back to the solemn faces of her children as she had tried to cheer them up as they packed their room minutes ago, she couldn't fight the sinking feeling that she had failed them as a parent. Here she had thought that she had been a good mother, devoting her life to them, giving them a childhood better than what she had. Now she was beginning to doubt herself and her motives for that.

"Bill," she pleaded in her head, "I have failed our children." Even after all of these years she could still feel his spirit wrapping himself around her mind in comfort. Whenever she needed him he was always there, but today he felt different. Instead of the usual warmth she felt when she thought of him, today it was cold and indifferent.

"_Maria,"_ Bill's voice came to her, _"you haven't failed them. But you will if you can't move on."_

"I can't let you go." She whispered out loud to his ghost.

Like an echo from distant waters Bill's snicker filled the room around her, invading her soul.

"_Don't make this about me."_ The voice said bounding against the walls of the tiny room_. "You and I both know this has nothing to do with me. If you don't let your past go, then your father is going to succeed in what he didn't finish that night. You're letting him kill you day by day, little by little. You need to let it go."_

Walking over to the window, Maria peered out its glass to the surrounding nature of the property. The sun shown high in the clear Austrian sky and the lake mirrored the mountains off in the distance. Taking in the beauty that surrounded her, Maria couldn't reconcile the picture perfect world that shown on the outside to the horrific one that lived within her memories. Gunshots and blood, her mother's pleading cries, followed by the woman's dead eyes staring back at her, these were what lived inside of her. The nightmare played like a broken record over and over again in her head. Seeing the evil finally leave her father's eyes as the bullet entered his skull, spilling blood and brain against the wall.

"I can't." She whispered against the glass of the window. "I can't let it go."

"_Then he wins."_

"There you are." The Captains booming voice stole Maria out of the trance that she had been in. Jumping back from the window, she grabbed at her heart through her shirt, in an attempt to trap the beating organ in place.

"Georg!" She yelled at him for startling her again. "I hate when you do that!"

Giving her a halfhearted chuckled he stepped into the room, "Do what?" he questioned in innocence.

"You're always sneaking up on me and scaring me." She said swatting at his arm as he came closer to her.

Shaking his head in denial he gave her his little sly smile, "That's because you're always lost in some dream."

Licking her dry lips Maria internally sniggered at what he had just said, saying the words she was thinking out loud, "Not a dream, a nightmare."

Slowly moving towards her, he went to take her into his arms. His movements were calculated and gradual, almost asking for permission to do it. When he found no resistance on her part he wrapped his arms around her, brushing his lips along her forehead before he rested his own against hers, so that they were eye to eye and nose to nose.

"Tell me about it." He said in a pleading voice leaving the reference out. They both knew of what he was referring to.

Smirking against the pain of the memory, Maria gently shook her head against his, "No." She whispered, "That's something that you don't want to know about."

Sighing against her skin he began, "Maria, I already know what happened to you that night, I've heard the tales…"

"You've heard the tales—but not the truth. Sometimes, Georg, fiction is better than the truth."

Stepping out of his embrace, Maria ran a smoothing hand down her skirt as his arms stood empty, still holding the position they were in before she had vacated them.

"I see," he said on a huff and walking away from her. Stopping at the box that she had been previously filling he began her vacated task for her. Only he was throwing the glass bottles into the box whereas she had been taken great care with them.

"Georg," she said his name, trying to soothe his agitated soul; however she lost her words as his piercing gaze fell upon her.

"Why is it," he said tearing her pear shaped perfume spray bottle from the vanity, holding it in his grip like a weapon, "that you can love and trust my children, but you can't do the same for me?" He threw the bottle into the box and she heard the fragile glass shatter on impact. "You can share your body with me, but not your heart?"

"Georg," she started again still unsure of the words needed to soothe his soul, "you know—"

"No I don't know!" He shouted taking the next bottle off the vanity sending it sailing across the room, "Tell me," he said squaring himself off to her, "did last night mean nothing to you? Do I mean nothing to you?" He screamed grabbing her by the shoulders and shaking her.

"Of course you do!" She cried at the pain that he was causing her gritting her teeth against it. She didn't blame him though for being angry. She was tearing his heart out, she knew how that felt. For her actions against him were causing her just as much pain, but it was for his own good, she reminded herself.

"Then why are you leaving me? Why won't you let me in?" Releasing the strong grip against her shoulders he pulled her to him in a tight embrace. Grabbing the back of her head and pushed it into his chest. Whispering against her ear he pleaded, "Let me in, Maria, for god sakes, I love you."

Now openly sobbing Maria shook her head against him, "I can't Georg. If I did, you wouldn't like what you saw in here. You wouldn't love me anymore." She gasped at herself for letting her inner truth escape her lips. It had been a long time since anyone had made her feel vulnerable. Only Bill had been able to penetrate the shield she had worked so hard to create around herself. She had thoroughly believed no other man could come close to doing it again. Yet, here she was confessing to a man she had known barely a month. A man that she was sure once she walked out his door she would find it hard to breathe without, a man she was willing to sacrifice her happiness for so that he could be spared her turmoil. For nothing in the world would make her happier than to spend the rest of her life standing by his side.

Taking her by both sides of her head he brought her eye level to him. She saw behind his eyes that he was trying to make sense of her riddle, and yet she also saw the raw and open love there. Like a coward she held onto that, finding a solace within herself that someone could love her when so much ugliness lived inside of her.

"Maria, there is nothing that you could tell me that would make me stop loving you, nothing." Maria internally laughed at his statement. The man was determined if he was anything. First she had thought that he would run when he had found out that she was a Von Helstin. Then she had thought that he would run when he had found out that she was not only married into a company that he despised but an owner and operator as well. Or maybe she had only hoped that he would, because then she would be spared from having to share the truth with him. The real reason she pushed the world away from her.

"_Take a chance Maria,"_ Bills voice once again filled the room around her_, "he needs you as much as you need him. Trust him."_

The words of her deceased husband passed through her body like a shiver. There was no one in the world that she trusted more than Bill. He had picked her up and put her pieces back together after that horrific night. He had held her and rocked her when the nightmares had been their worst and had cried tears with her over her shattered life. If he trusted the Captain, maybe she should too.

Taking a steadying breath, she looked into the Captains eyes slightly nodding her head she began, "What if I told you that I—"

Her words were cut short when a frantic, "Countess!" was heard coming from the downstairs kitchen.

Jumping apart from the intrusion, the Captain still held onto Maria's hand, his eyes begging her to continue.

"Maria!" Daniel yelled again. Maria figured his state of panic was probably due to having lost track of her for a moment.

She yelled down her whereabouts to calm his nerves. When they heard him bounding up the stairs, they both got a nervous expression on their faces. Something was wrong.

Slamming into the room, Daniel looked past the two adults as if looking for a missing piece to a puzzle.

"Maria, where are the children?" He demanded more than asked.

Still a little startled from the interruption, she stammered, "I sent them to the villa to retrieve Bills camera."

Daniel walked over to one of the twin beds, for a moment Maria thought that he was going to heave it into the air and look for her children underneath it.

"They're not there. I found the camera and a knocked out Friedrich on the path back here."

"What!" Both Maria and the Captain exclaimed at the same time.

The Captain was the first to recover from the shock, "What happened?"

"I don't know. Somebody gave your boy a blow to the back of the head. Max and I revived him for a moment but he was incoherent. He mumbled something that we couldn't make out. He passed back out after that. We called for the doctor. But Liam and Lynn are nowhere to be found."

Running to the stairs, Maria turned to Daniel. "What was it that he muttered?"

Throwing his hands up in the air, Daniel said, "It sounded like Ann's." Maria took a moment to think. There wasn't anyone on the grounds with Ann for a first name. Maria had made friends with all of the staff and she was sure of this. Remembering what the two men who had come to visit her yesterday at the cottage had said about getting information from one of the staff at the villa, she was sure that whoever had attacked Friedrich worked at the house. Then a sick thought hit her. But it couldn't be, could it, she thought. That would be the biggest betrayal of all.

"Daniel, it couldn't have been Franz that Friedrich muttered, could it?" She asked what she had been thinking in her head.

By now they had all run down the spiral staircase and had made it across the kitchen to the door. The Captains hand froze on the knob at the thought of his butler having committed a crime against his family.

"Maybe." Daniel said and pushed his way past the Captain out the door.

Maria and Daniel frantically searched the grounds for her missing children, while the Captain tended to Friedrich. Having searched the lake, the boathouse, the ballroom, coming up empty handed, Maria remembered the garage. The sick feeling in the pit of her stomach opened up and swallowed her whole when Daniel lifted the door to the garage revealing Franz's missing truck. On the floor of the garage in the empty space where the truck was once parked a small pool of blood colored the ground.

A hurricane force wind smacked Maria in the chest knocking the wind from her lungs. She fell to the floor in a heap, sobbing as pain wracked through her body. Her babies were gone. They were scared, they were hurt and she couldn't do anything to help them. Then darkness overtook her.


	35. Chapter 35

Chapter 35

After the police left, having taken all the information they could muster, the huge house fell eerily quiet. Silence hung thick in the air even with the houses' new occupants, for Vilhelm had arrived within the hour of getting the news that his grandchildren were missing. He had brought along with him a battalion of five men who now stood guard around the grounds and Aunt Adelaide. The two new guests along with Max, Elsa, Daniel and the children were gathered in the sitting room around Maria. No one dared to break the wall of silence for fear Maria would crack under it.

Finally Gretl climbed into Maria's lap, "Fraulein Maria why would Franz take Lynn and Liam?" Maria glanced down at the child in all of her youthful innocence. That was the question wasn't it? Why would he do such a thing? But how do you explain to a child how ugly the world can be? Children do not understand the greed and ugliness that lives around the adult world. Maria had learned this lesson when she was far too young. Now her children were learning the lesson that she had vowed to protect them from. That mankind can be greedy, selfish, manipulative, monstrous beings that would hurt anyone to gain what they wanted.

Looking down at Gretl, all blue eyes and bouncing blonde curls, Maria held this truth within herself. So help her God, she may have failed her own children, but she simply couldn't squash the innocence in this little girl.

"He probably just took them for a ride into town." Maria said hoping to soothe the girls concerns.

"Oh," the little girl replied still sitting up straight in Maria's lap. Little Gretl twisted her face around while Maria watched the girl process the lie she had just told her.

"Then why did the police have to come?" Gretl finally asked. Inwardly Maria had to smile. Children never ceased to amaze her. No matter how naïve they were in the world, they were smarter than most adults put together.

"Because he didn't ask permission." Maria clarified for the girl on terms she could understand. Maria watched as the light was switched on in Gretl's head and understanding over took her.

"Then the next time Friedrich takes my doll, I'm calling the police on him." This gave the room a laugh. A laugh that at the moment they all were very much in need of.

Gretl settled against Maria's chest. Hugging the child close to her Maria held her tighter than was necessary. Right now she just needed something to hold on to in hopes that the world around her would stop spinning. Since discovering the children missing a hollowness had grown inside her. It was as if all of her insides had disappeared except for her beating heart. Its echo within her empty cavern on each beat was like a tolling drum drowning out the rest of the world.

From the back of the room the gathered forum heard one of their own stifle a cry. Without turning her head, Maria knew from whom the sound had emitted from. She had been watching the girl in the mirror across the room, which had held in its reflection a somber sight. Brigitta had been sitting at the piano gently caressing each key without depressing it for sound. Chancing a glance now, Maria saw the girls shoulders slump and gently shake from her sobs of grief. She was about to place Gretl on the sofa and go to her when she saw Vilhelm, slightly out of place, sit next to the child.

Vilhelm had been slightly out of place since his arrival at the villa. The normally strong willed, all business, formidable man that was his usual self was nowhere to be seen. When he had first walked through the door, Maria had felt relief -for Vilhelm was here and Vilhelm could fix anything. Just the mention of his name was usually enough to open locked doors. For the second time in her life Maria caught a glimpse of what he really was. A man, the same as everyone else.

The first time Maria had realized this was many years ago when Bill had finally succumbed to his illness. He had arrived at their house in the middle of the night after Maria had called him to tell him his son had gone on to heaven. That night, she had seen what the world had never thought was possible of Vilhelm von Helstin. He had cried deep racking sobs of grief as he had gathered his dead son in his arms. He had cried for all that was, all that wasn't and all that could never be and in that moment Maria had realized that no matter how powerful a person was they were still as weak as a human can be.

Now watching him in the mirror, sitting awkwardly on the piano bench facing the opposite direction than Brigitta, Maria relearned the same lesson and another as well. Yes he was a powerful man. Yes he could buy and sell the world, but all of the money in the world couldn't heal his broken heart. And yet, he never ran away. He never turned his back on his path in life. He was who he was, personal tragedies and all.

Swinging his legs around under the piano, Maria watched as Vilhelm bent his head down to whisper something to Brigitta. The room grew even quieter as all of the children and the adults watched in disbelief as Vilhelm von Helstin did something they all thought wasn't possible. He reached out and comforted another human being. Not for money, not for fame, there was no business merger to gain from his actions. He simply did it because he needed the comfort just as much as Brigitta did.

"You know I taught my late wife how to play while she was pregnant with Lynn's father." Vilhelm confessed to Brigitta as he too began caressing the ivory keys. "My son," he finished his thought with a faraway voice in reference to Bill. Shaking himself out of his memories, Vilhelm continued, "Then she taught our son to play when he was only two years old. Although," Vilhelm stopped here and laughed a little to himself, "my wife used to say she didn't have to teach the boy anything. He simply sat at the piano one day and started to play. She said he must have been eavesdropping in on our lessons while he was still in her belly."

Brigitta gazed up at the mystical man sitting next to her. Maria knew the girl fairly well and was sure that in her mind Brigitta was trying to make sense of him. "Lynn was teaching me how to play."

"Ah, well then child," Vilhelm said while running an unsteady hand down the back of Brigittas' head, "you have an excellent teacher. My granddaughter is my son all over again. Even down to her gentle nature." Quirking his head a little in Maria's direction, Vilhelm nudged the girl in the shoulder with his arm. "Although, she does have a little of her mother's spirit in her too. And so does Liam. Together they are an indestructible pair."

Maria knew that Vilhelm's comforting words were meant for her as well, however, she still couldn't settle her mind. It was a horrible feeling to know that your children were in need of your help and there was no way to get to them. It was the same feeling she had felt as she had watched Bill's illness suck the life from him. Useless. That's how she felt. Useless and trapped.

Trying to occupy her mind with something other than the thoughts of what may be happening to her children at the moment. Maria called Liesl over to her.

"Liesl, darling, with all of the commotion I never had a chance to ask you how your date was last night."

Liesl, who had been lost in thought sitting on the settee near the back window, looked at Maria with surprised eyes. Liesl looked around the room as if she was looking for guidance from the rest of the occupants as to how to proceed from Maria's statement.

Maria reassured Liesl that she wouldn't be committing a moral sin by speaking about her evening by patting the empty seat of the sofa next to her.

"Please, Liesl," Maria openly begged, "I would like to hear about it." When the girl still didn't move from her spot, Maria rephrased, "I need to hear about it."

With that Liesl came over and took the seat next to Maria. She spun her tale of the previous night's events, although, undoubtedly with way less enthusiasm than she would have had circumstances been different. Listening intently to Liesl's speech, Maria was finally able to let her mind relax a little. The past few hours had been hell for her and she hadn't realized that she was so tense that she had been clenching her jaw. That is until she relaxed a little and felt the pain from the back of her jaw to her ears. Nor had she realized that her hands had been clenched in fists, her nails haven bitten into her palms.

As Liesl continued to speak, Maria felt the bile come into the back of her throat as her internal rage boiled over. She knew in that moment that if she ever saw Franz again she would kill him. She would hurt him and anyone else involved in taking the children and hurting Friedrich. It was the same rage she had felt that night as her father had held her at gunpoint. She hadn't felt its low growl since the last bullet had been fired on that fateful night, but now sitting here in a room surrounded by people that she loved, she felt it rear its ugly head again. She clenched her hands into fists again, trying to still them and stop them from striking out against the world as the blood in her veins boiled into an inferno.

The sudden change in her internal temperature sent Maria's head spinning followed by a strong sense of nausea. Covering her mouth, she muttered an apology to Liesl and ran from the room before she lost her stomach contents onto the floor.

She ran through the foyer, bounding up the stairs two at a time. Barely reaching the governess' room that she called her own when she stayed at the villa. After she was done emptying what was left of the breakfast she had had that morning she rested her forehead against the cold porcelain of the toilet. How could this be happening to her, she kept asking herself over and over again? If God wanted to punish her for her sins, then so be it. But why was he punishing her children? They had done nothing wrong.

"_Because they came from you, you Bitch!" _Her father's biting words filled her mind. "_Nothing you could create can be any good!"_

"Burn in hell, you bastard." Maria replied to her dead fathers' ghost. Startling herself with the venom she heard come from her own voice.

Hearing the faucet turn on, Maria turned her head to see that Aunt Addy had come and joined her in the bathroom. She had been so lost in her thoughts she hadn't even heard her come in. Concentrating on her task of wetting a washcloth, Aunt Adelaide shook her head and wrung the water out of the cloth.

"What is it that he's telling you now?" The old woman asked as she came to Maria helping her stand. Taking her by the hand she led her out to the bedroom guiding her to sit on the edge of the bed. When Maria was settled she placed the cloth on her forehead, and then took Maria's hand replacing her own to hold the cloth into place. Settling down next to her on the bed, her Aunt dipped her head in front of Maria's nudging her to answer her earlier question.

When Maria still didn't answer her, Aunt Adelaide shrugged her shoulders before a knowing smile stretched her lips.

"Doesn't matter, I suppose." Her Aunt spoke, "It's just good to finally see you stand up to your father."

Maria's eyes blinked in surprise. It was true that since her father's death she had had numerous running dialogues with the man in her head. But she had never told anyone about them. Not even Bill. No one ever wanted to admit to another living soul that they were crazy. Maria included. That she talked to ghosts was her own little secret. Yet, here her Aunt was admitting that she knew about it the entire time. Maybe Maria hadn't hid it as well as she thought she had.

"I hate him." Maria muttered more to herself than her Aunt.

Patting Maria's leg her Aunt Adelaide sighed, "As well you should I suppose." The old woman agreed, looking off into the distance. "But you need to forgive him."

"Forgive him!" Maria spat out in shock. How could she ask her to forgive a man that shattered her life? Had the old woman gone insane? Aunt Adelaide knew all too well what her father had done to her. It would be the same as asking the Mother Mary to forgive Pontius Pilot.

"Yes Maria," her Aunt continued undaunted by Maria's outrageous cry, "For only after you can find forgiveness for him will you find it for yourself. All these years I have watched you run away from your life. From yourself. When you were a child you had this spirit inside of you. This light. But you have extinguished it. You tamper it down within yourself and smother it. And I fear that if you let it go on any longer it will never come back."

"Is that why you came here yesterday and spoke to the Captain?" Maria asked.

Looking Maria in the eye her Aunt nodded to her. "Yes it is. Since this summer began I have seen traces of your spirit rise inside you. The Maria that you are afraid to be. The one that used to love life and found wonder in all that lived around you. The one that never gave up, that would fight a good fight even if it meant she lost a little of herself in the end."

Her words ignited Maria's ire. She had done what she had done to give her children a better life, not just to run away from her ghosts as her Aunt assumed.

"I came here with the children to give them a better life." She defended herself.

"And you did Maria. You did. You're a wonderful and devoted mother. But sometimes I wonder if you put so much of yourself into the children so that you can forget who you are."

Even though she tried, Maria couldn't help but think of the past eight years. After Bill's death she had shut herself down. Having lost her parents in such a violent way, having lost what was left of her childhood going straight to adulthood Maria had thought she was ready for anything when she had married Bill. For those brief years when they were married Maria had been the happiest she had ever been in her life. And yet, she knew she had held herself back during those years, preparing her heart for the inevitable end. Hoping that when it came that the pain wouldn't be as bad, but in the end it was.

There was no protection against that. Nothing. So she had moved here to Austria, hoping that by putting an ocean between herself and the memories the pain would subside. She had been wrong. That's when she had built the walls and the only ones who had been allowed within their boundaries had been her children and Aunt Adelaide. Of course as the years went by, each of the von Trapp children had chiseled their way in with their sweet smiles and wonderful hearts. Now their father was pounding on the door and she was adding another barrier of protection against him.

Even knowing all of this about herself, Maria couldn't forget what had made her heart turn into steel. She wasn't supposed to be here. She had survived while all the others had died that night. What was it that her father had said after she had raised her hurt body off of the floor after the bullet had cut through her neck? _"You can't even die right." _

Normally when she heard her father's words her soul cowered in fear. Today, however, she felt that rage seep into her heart again; the same fire that had ignited her on that night flowed through her veins.

Dammit, she wasn't a victim. Nor was she going to let her children be either.

Meeting her Aunts eyes for the first time, Maria watched as an enormous smile spread across her Aunt's face.

"There she is." She said as she continued to look into Maria's eyes, "There's my girl. Now are you going to keep sitting here feeling sorry for yourself or are you going to get up off of your ass and go and find your children?"

For a moment Maria felt like she could conquer the world. She could scale tall buildings and leap across oceans. Until she remembered that her children were missing and she had no clue how to find them. Then the tears in her soul quenched out the fire, leaving her with that helpless feeling once more.

"But there's nothing I can do." Maria whispered.

Taking Maria by the chin, Aunt Adelaide lifted her head up, "Ahhh, Maria, you have it wrong. I think that if you put your mind to it, there's nothing that you _can't_ do. You used to believe that in yourself. That's the part of yourself that you allowed your father to kill that night. And that's the part that you need to forgive him for in order to find yourself again."


	36. Chapter 36

Chapter 36

A watched pot never boils, Georg reminded himself for the thousandth time as he willed the phone in his study to ring. It was the eleventh hour, and twelve since the children were found missing and his son abused. Now he sat alone in silence, surrounded by darkness once more, with only his brandy for company as he waited for some word from the kidnappers.

Surely they had demands. Undoubtedly everyone knew what the demands were, but still the kidnappers needed to call or leave word somehow to have these demands met. Yet, not one word from the bastards. As the hours ticked away, Georg grew more and more uneasy about the entire situation.

How could he have been so blind to not see that one of his own staff was a traitor? Especially Franz, who by all accounts was his right hand man in the household. Franz knew everything there was to know about his personal life. Everything—even down to the Captains plans of moving the family to England as well as the job that was waiting for him there. Here he had thought that he had calculated every move with precision and stealth all the while there was a spy revealing his secrets the entire time. Now the Nazi's held all of the cards and he didn't even have an ace up his sleeve to get him out of the hole.

He needed to make a move and fast, but first he needed to get Lynn and Liam back. A tight fist curled in his stomach when he thought of what may be happening to those children at the moment. So help him God if one hair was harmed on either one of those heads there would be hell to pay.

Out of desperation he picked up the receiver on his phone. Dialing the operator, he spoke when he heard another voice on the end of the line, "Just checking to make sure the line is working."

The operators clipped tone came back through the receiver, "The line is fine, sir."

Mumbling a thank you, the Captain slammed the phone back down. That was the fourth time that he had checked tonight. He was sure that he had gotten the same woman each time he had called. He was probably her biggest annoyance tonight. Oh well, he thought, someone else might as well be just as miserable as he was on this horrible night.

What a far cry this day had been from his previous one. Last night he had been on top of the world. It had been a long time since he had held the woman that he loved in his arms. Since Agathe's death he had been with a few women, but those had been fleeting affairs devoid of emotion. Last night he had felt whole again. Complete. Now all of that was a fading memory. Even if the children hadn't been taken, Maria was still planning on leaving him. The void in his chest grew bigger at the memory of her announcement at breakfast. What did he have to do to convince this woman to love him back? Didn't she know that he would walk on water for her?

Didn't she know that he would do anything in his power to make her happy? A sick thought entered his mind. Maybe that was it. Maybe what would make her happy would be to leave him. He was about to lose himself in his melancholy thoughts when the door to his office opened allowing an intruder to invade his self-flagellation.

Dragging his eyes to the figure that dared to enter his space unbidden his stomach hurled slightly from the sight. Standing there in the foyer of his study was a man that he never thought that he would have to be a gracious host to in his own home. However taking in the dark circles under the man's eyes and the worry that was stitched into his brows, Georg couldn't help but feel for the man. After all it was the man's own flesh and blood that they were all concerned over today.

Reaching into the very core of his being, Georg scraped along the wall of his inner self scrounging around for his last manners. All he could muster was a clipped tone as he said the words the man had entered the room for, "No word, yet."

Von Helstin gave him a tight nod. Then turned as if he were going to leave the room, however, surprisingly he simply shut the door behind him then took a seat on the settee in front of the fireplace. For a moment he simply stared into the flames while the Captain remained silent at his desk. Finally regarding his negligent host, Vilhelm turned to see the Captain raise his glass to his lips and take a long sip.

"Is that Brandy?" Vilhelm questioned once the Captain placed the glass onto his blotter. The Captain replied with a nod while Vilhelm raised his eyebrows in a silent gesture.

The Captain suckled the remaining liquid from his lips, rising from his desk to procure a glass for his unwanted guest. Trying to squelch the sigh that was so determined to escape his body, the Captain informed, "It's Napoleon."

The Captain handed the glass over to Von Helstin, who in return gave him a slight nod of appreciation, then took a long sip of the liquid. "Yes indeed," he said, "it is quite good."

The two men continued to evaluate the other in silence. It was a game really. A winner takes all game to see who was going to outlast the tension. He who broke it first would be the loser, indeed. The one who fell under the wall of silence would be the weaker of the two. The problem was neither of these two would dare be called weak. So the silence lived on.

Unexpectedly a sight entered the Captains mind. It was Maria on the night that Rolf came to ask his permission to take his daughter on a date. She was standing there in the room with them giving him the same look that she had on that night. Doing the same thing to him that she had on the previous occasion—making him feel like a fool.

Puffing air out of his lips the Captain swallowed his pride thinking of conversation he could engage the old man in. The Captain may hold nothing but contempt for the man, but Maria respected him. If he was going to win Maria, he supposed he needed to win the old man over too. A strange feeling entered his soul at the thought. Now standing in Rolf's shoes, the Captain could relate to the boy. Suddenly he felt bad for being the unapproachable man that he was.

That only lasted a moment, however, as fleeting images of last night's events rolled through the Captain's mind. Avoiding eye contact with Von Helstin, the Captain reminded himself to act even worse towards his daughter's suitor on the next go round. Men were only after one thing, he should know, he himself being a man.

To his surprise, Von Helstin interrupted his thoughts, thus inadvertently losing the battle. Or perhaps, the Captain mused he had played his hand wisely and in fact had come out the winner.

"You and I have more in common than you think." Von Helstin spoke into his glass.

Barely moving to acknowledge his foe, the Captain slowly swung his eyes in the direction of the voice.

"How's that?" He asked incredulously.

Von Helstin slowly swirled the liquid around in his glass, as if swirling his thoughts around.

"We both love power and prestige," the old man stopped here and for the first time since he started speaking regarded the Captain, "and the perks that come with it." With his last statement he narrowed his eyes, while the Captain suddenly found it hard to swallow. For Christ sakes man, he yelled at himself, get it together. You're a grown man, you did nothing wrong.

"And what perks would that be?" The Captain asked, noticing for himself the slither that had entered his own voice.

"Oh you know the usual fair, respect, adoration…women."

The Captain bit his lower lip to keep himself from screaming on the man. Whatever Von Helstin may believe of him, he should know better of his own daughter in law. Especially since he half raised her from childhood. For him to disrespect her like this was an outrage, and Georg fought to keep control of his temper.

Getting up from his desk, the Captain placed himself in front of his accuser. Looking the man square in the eye he spoke, "If there is something you would like to ask me sir, go ahead and ask it. But I will remind you that this is _my _home and I demand respect for myself and anyone that is under this roof."

Standing to his full height from the couch, Von Helstin stood a toe from the Captain. For the first time, the Captain took in the measure of the man. Though he may have had a good twenty years on the Captain, he wasn't old by any means. And he stood a good four inches taller than himself.

"And may I remind you that this is _my_ family that you are fooling with_, Captain_." He let the title drip with disdain, "And I won't stand for it. You may have pulled the wool over their eyes, but not mine. Although I give you this, you must be good at what you do if you can convince my Maria into believing of you that which you are not. For you, _Captain_," again Von Helstin let the title roll off his tongue like a curse, "are nothing more than a scoundrel. But you are good at what you do. Not only have you fooled Maria, but the Third Reich and the English Navy as well…now that…that is a feat."

The Captain felt his blood rush from his toes into his head. He was sure that if he looked into the mirror at this very moment, steam would be billowing from his cranium.

"I do not believe that I will stand for insults from a man that has my country men's blood on his hands," the Captain replied after he had gained his breath back. If this were any other man, he would have punched him square in the face. "All of Austria may have forgiven your traitorous actions during the war, Von Helstin, but I have not. For I saw with my own two eyes the results that your aid gave the American war ships. I witnessed the destruction that you caused against a country that you call your own."

Von Helstin ran his tongue along his teeth. The Captain could tell that he had agitated the man and something inside of him felt good for delivering the insult soundly.

"It was war, Captain. There is no right or wrong in war. Only wrong. You believe that I betrayed my homeland, whereas I believe that I helped my fellow man. Your fleet had the Americans cut off from supplies. The men were starving and sitting ducks. In good conscience I couldn't let the sons of my friends die without at least extending a helpful hand. But now let me ask you this, let us assume that you aren't a spy for the Nazi's and are entering the English Navy as a legitimate career move. Now let's speculate that one day in the future England goes to war with Germany. A Germany that now includes Austria in its fold and you are put into the position of fighting against your fellow Austrians. Are you man enough to pull the trigger against your own brethren?"

Though they were only words their force hit the Captain like a punch in the stomach. When he had actively sought a commission with the English Navy he had never dreamed that a war was brewing between the two nations. He had reached out when he had been at his lowest point after Agathe's death for something that he could hold on to. When he had heard that his good friend from years past had worked his way up in the English command he had seen an opportunity to put some meaning back into his life. He had seen it as a way to escape his mundane and meaningless life. Now he saw it for what it was, just another way to run from the former life that he had felt died along with his wife.

Funny as it was, the Captain began to wonder that if Maria had never entered his life if he would have been able to make the connection before it was too late.

"I have seen enough war, Von Helstin." The Captain murmured as memories from a long ago past resurfaced in his mind mingled with memories he didn't want to make in the future. There was no way that he could soundly go through another war and come out sane on the other side. Win or lose.

"And yet you're about to enter into one. But first you need to decide for whom you will fight." Von Helstin took a frustrated breath as if he were puzzling with the Captain over the decision. "Now that's a hard one." The old man clucked his tongue against his teeth in mock agitation. "Maybe if you call your friends who have my grandchildren, they could help you with your decision."

The Captain felt his eyes narrow into dangerous slits, poking his finger into the chest of the old man; he knew his patience was running incredibly thin.

"I am NOT a Nazi." He hissed through his clenched teeth. "How can you even think that I had something to do with Lynn and Liam's kidnapping? I would never do anything to harm those children. And my own son? Do you honestly think I would hurt my own son in the process?"

"Von Trapp," he addressed the Captain, "don't try and hide behind parental duties. You forget I once had a business partner, who was much like yourself. Actually too much like you, who did unspeakable things to his daughter…"

Von Helstin's words were stopped short by the Captain who had gathered the man's shirt in his fist lifting him slightly off of the ground.

"Don't ever compare me to that bastard. I am nothing like him. And if he were here in this room today I would kill him with my own two hands for what he did to Maria."

The Captain wasn't sure what he would have done to Von Helstin, luckily he didn't have to find out, as Maria had chosen that exact moment to enter into the room.

Walking over the threshold she stopped short taking in the sight in the middle of the room of the Captain holding her father in law in the air with one hand.

"I see you two have been getting better acquainted." Maria spoke from her frozen spot in the room, resting her eyes on the two men in contempt.

Gently the Captain placed Von Helstin back onto his own two feet. When he went to speak and explain the situation, he silenced himself at the command of Maria's hand.

"I don't care what just took place in here," she spat at the two grown men as if they were battling children on a playground. "But you both need to figure out a way to get along. All that matters right now are my children and getting them back. I don't have time, nor do I care to judge your pissing contest."

The Captain and Von Helstin shared a sheepish look from their joint tongue lashing. They both bowed their heads and murmured, "Yes Maria," when they heard the outside bell ring for the front door.

The sound stopped the Captain's heart. When the bell rang for a second time, the organ jumped to life, resting in his throat. Running out of the room towards the sound, the Captain saw an eager Daniel opening the door to his home revealing their midnight guest.

Hoping against hope that whoever it was had some word on the children, his heart sank when it was revealed that it was only young Rolf Eck ringing the doorbell.

Rolf took a step back as four eager adult faces looked to him for answers that he didn't have. The Captain watched as a look of uncertainty ran over the boy's face. Thinking that the boy was about to lose his nerve for whatever it was that brought him to his doorstep on this night, the Captain stepped forth placing a reassuring hand on the lad's shoulder. At this point, any little bit of information they could gather would be better than what they had—which was nothing.

"Rolf," he goaded the boy, "what is it?"

Taking an unsettled breath, Rolf began, "I was on duty tonight at the telegram office. My manager was receiving a bunch of messages that he wouldn't let me see. They would come over the wire and he would hand them off to another boy, Ross Zeller. We had all heard the news about what had happened to Frau Rainer's children and well, Zeller said something under his breath that I didn't care for." Rolf stopped here to take a breath, as the Captain shut the door behind him.

Taking Rolf by the arm, he pressed the boy, "What did he say?"

Letting a long breath of air out of his lungs, Rolf continued, "When the constable came to tell us what had happened here, he had asked my manager to inform him if any suspicious wires came over tonight. After he left, my manager and Zeller smiled at each other and Zeller said, 'only his father would be getting the messages tonight.' Then all of the messages started to come in, and only Zeller was allowed to deliver them. I snuck into the room when the manager went to relieve himself and I found this coming over the wire." Rolf took a small piece of paper out of his pocket and handed it over to the Captain. "At first I thought it might have something to do with Lynn and Liam, but then after attempting to translate the Morse code, I realized it was just a bunch of gibberish. So I went home, but," Rolf looked at the floor, "I just couldn't stop thinking that it may not be gibberish after all."

The Captain eagerly read the encoded telegram. Having been thoroughly trained in Morse code in the Navy, he attempted to translate the series of dots and dashes into sense. However Rolf had been right, it was nothing but gibberish. His sails that had flourished momentarily sank once again.

Handing the useless piece of paper over to Maria, the Captain patted the young man on the shoulder.

"You're first assessment was right, Rolf, it is nothing. But I thank you for your concern and trying to help."

He was about to show the young man out the door, when he heard Maria gasp.

Turning to her, he saw her engrossed in re-reading the message with her hand covering her mouth.

"What is it, Maria?" He asked her, intrigued that she could make sense out of the jumbled translated letters.

"This is from Liam." Maria said as tears welled up in her eyes.

"How do you know?" Von Helstin asked.

"Because it doesn't translate to German, but it does translate in Spanish. The message says, "Mother, we are both fine. We have traveled a long distance. From where we lay we can see Wilomena." Running across the hall back to the Captain's study Maria yelled, "I need a map." Rifling through his papers, he helped her desperate search as he unsheathed his naval maps of the Adriatic Sea. Finding what he assumed was a familiar point on the coast of Italy she ran her finger across the map to a tiny island in the middle of the ocean. Had it been a regular map the land wouldn't have even been catalogued. "Here," she said looking up into the Captains face that was peering over her shoulder during her desperate search, "this is where they are."

"Are you sure?" The Captain asked.

"Positive." She stated showing him the telegram once more, pointing to different series of dots and dashes, "Look, all of these can be translated into the equivalent of Spanish words , except for these, which translate into the equivalent of English letters within the Spanish words." She began circling the different dots and dashes she was referring to. "Wilomena, my family's former cook grew up in Trieste, the word that the English letters spells out is Island. They are on this island, I'll bet my life on it."

The Captain took a step back as he marveled at Maria and her son. Laughing out loud he answered her maddening eyes, "I'm not laughing at you. I'm laughing at Herr Zeller and his fellow comrades. I bet they will eat their hats when they find out that they have been bested by a ten year old boy and a school teacher."

A/N I hope you all are still enjoying this. I promise the children should be fine in a few chapters. I just felt the story needed an actual story in it, if you know what I mean. I need a way for Maria to come out of her shell and I thought this might just do the trick. Anyway, please let me know what you think. Reviews really keep me going, otherwise I just question that I'm writing gibberish. lol


	37. Chapter 37

Chapter 37

"Absolutely not! You are not coming!" The Captain exclaimed while Maria waited at the front doors to leave the villa and go after her children. "And what is that outfit?"

Maria glanced down at her choice in wardrobe. She had known when she had picked it out that the Captain would be furious. However she simply couldn't see herself joining effectively in a rescue mission clad in a dress. Having never joined in an adventure such as they had been planning for the past two hours, she wasn't quite sure what type of wardrobe one would need. Although she did bet that a cumbersome dress wouldn't be the best to go with. So she had raided Liesl's closet for a pair of dancing tights, then the Captains bedroom for a dress shirt. Finishing off her outfit was a belt that she had stolen from Friedrich after she had checked on the poor boy. At least she matched, green tights, green shirt and brown belt. What more could one ask for? Why the Captain was staring at her as if she were a walking nightmare, Maria couldn't fathom.

"They are_ my_ children." She finally spat as he continued to blockade her exit out the door. Everyone else in the rescue party was seated in their perspective cars in the driveway. After Maria had figured out the location of the children, Vilhelm had called in one of his airplanes to the Salzburg-Aigen airstrip. Originally they had planned for Daniel, the Captain, Max and another one of Vilhelm's men to make the trip by plane over to Trieste where they were to charter small boats and drive them over to the island. They couldn't use any of Vilhelm's boats docked in Trieste since they were undoubtedly all under surveillance. So they were going to charter two small unidentified vessels privately.

Maria and Vilhelm had needed to stay behind in case the kidnappers had called with their demands. It wouldn't have looked good for the rescue team if the kidnappers had suspected that the whereabouts of the children had been figured out. However, an hour into the planning process the phone had finally ended its silence. An undistinguishable man had called, informing them that if the papers to hand over the Gotthardbahn railway to the Third Reich were not signed by Friday of that week, the children would suffer the consequences.

It had taken all of Maria's power to not reach her hand through that phone line and choke the bastard on the other end. Before she had agreed to his terms she had thankfully insisted on proof of life. When her two children's voices sounded on the line together, a rush of relief filled her to her core. Even though the man on the other end of the line only allowed her children to say a few words each, it was enough to let her know that they were alive and well. Before the man closed the line Maria had asked that he phone every two hours with proof of life. The kidnapper had denied this request, only saying that he would call again in twelve hours. This gave her and Vilhelm enough time to go along with the mission and be back in time for the next phone call if they failed in retrieving the children.

When she had resigned herself to going along with the team she knew that she had one giant obstacle to overcome. And he was still standing in her way as she spoke, "If you think for one minute, Captain that you can stop me you had better think again."

Fisting his hand around the door handle the Captain growled in frustration at her. "We're back to Captain again, are we?"

Maria seethed inside, "Now is NOT the time, Captain." She tried to push him to relieve his hand from the door; however he grabbed her hand in his own, crushing her fingers with his strength.

"No I don't suppose it is_, Fraulein_." She could feel his contempt against her skin as his last word hissed across her face. "Stop pushing me away, I am merely trying to help."

"I know you are and I thank you…" She had had an entire speech prepared for the gratitude she felt for him during this trying time for her. But he silenced her with another tight tug on her hand, forcing her to look into his face in surprise.

"You give me gratitude as if I'm a stranger on a street corner offering you a slice of bread in your time of desperation. I'm not doing this for _you. _I'm doing this for the children. Your children, who I love as if they were my own, as if I sowed them with my own seed." Throwing her hand away from him, he fixed his tie before opening the door, "Keep your gratitude and keep out of the way. You're staying here!"

Stamping her foot as if she were a child, she pushed him out of the door way taking her leave from the house, "I'm going. And nothing you can say is going to stop me."

"Fine," he raged, falling in step with her, "you can come on the plane but that is it. You're staying on the plane when we get there."

Waiting for him to open the car door for her, she spun around as his arm reached for the handle coming within inches of his face. "We'll see."

"You're staying on the plane!"

"We'll see." She restated bending to take her seat into the car.

Stopping her with a tight grip on her arm he reiterated, "THE PLANE!"

She answered him with a belligerent arch of her eyebrows.

"Woman, I swear! Will you ever stop defying me?" Pushing her to the middle of the seat, he took his final place in the car and gave the driver the go ahead to leave. "You're staying on the plane."

"We'll—see—about—that." She said in even hard tones causing the Captain to let out a frustrated curse.

Max who was seated on the other side of Maria shook his head and let out a low chuckle, "This is going to be a fun trip, I can tell already." Mimicking a small child he quipped, "Driver are we there yet?"

"SHUT UP MAX!" Both Maria and the Captain exclaimed.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxx

"You're staying on the dock." The Captain stated after having lost the plane battle with Maria who was now trying to get onto his boat.

After the hour long plane trip the Captain was about to lose his patience completely. Not only was Maria being stubborn about staying in safety where he had wanted her, her outfit was driving him insane. The tights that she was wearing left little to the imagination. Quite a few times he had caught Daniel and the other henchman checking out her figure on the ride over. Whether they were doing it consciously he couldn't tell, but they were definitely doing it. He knew for certain he was going to kill someone tonight. He just wasn't sure if it was going to be one of the kidnappers, Vilhelm's henchmen, or Maria. So far, the odds were in Maria's favor.

"Captain, we've been through this. You need a third person on your boat anyway. I'm all you've got."

The Captain looked upon the vessel that he was to captain over to the tiny island. The thing had seen its better days, probably, he estimated about a century ago.

Looking over with envy to Vilhelm's boat and crew, the Captain once again looked at the hand that he was dealt.

"Why is it that he gets Old Ironsides with Thor and Titan for crewmates and I get the Titanic with," he stopped and made of note of thoroughly looking both Max and Maria up and down with a look of utter disapproval on his face, "a crew that consists of Mr. Smee and Peter Pan?"

"Does that make you Captain Hook?" Maria asked facetiously stepping onto the boat with Max's help.

"Watch it," the Captain stated in annoyance, "or I'll have you walk the plank."

"Yes sir, Captain." Maria answered while giving him a stout salute.

"Just man the rudder." He sighed as he started to unleash the sails.

Looking to Max for silent help, Maria followed his finger to a stick at the base of the boat. Nodding her head in understanding Maria took the place that she had been designated.

"When we arrive on the island," the Captain said as he continued his current task, "you're to stay on the boat."

"Yeah right." Maria replied as she fiddled with the thing that she was supposed to be supervising. Vilhelm shouted over to them that his crew was ready to go causing her to miss the Captains last frustrated moan.

Suddenly Maria's gut filled with apprehension. Before this she had been focused on getting the Captain to allow her to go along on the mission. Now as they started off, she realized just what it was that they were about to do. At the same time realizing just what the consequences could be if it all went wrong.

Maybe they were wrong in setting up this rescue. Maybe they should simply wait until Friday and hand over the railway as they were requested to do. Even as the question swirled through her mind, Friday seemed like forever away, there was no way she could leave her children in the hands of madmen until then. Judging from the distance that they had made the children travel today and the remote area in which they were keeping them, she began to wonder if their intentions were to give them back at all.

The Captain having finished his task with the sails came over to untie the vessel from the dock. The same thoughts had been running through his mind as he had silently watched Maria struggle with her own. Kneeling before her, he took her head between his two hands, giving her his eyes for strength.

"It's going to be alright, Maria, I promise."

Drinking in the scent of him she locked onto his eyes, his truth shining through the pre-dawn moonlight reflecting off the water. He drove her mad with his insistent ways, but she knew she could rely on him. She could lean all of her weight on him and he would bear the burden with her. She only needed to allow herself to do so.

"I'm scared." She whispered, her own vulnerability leaving her lightheaded.

"Me too, me too." He murmured before placing a slight kiss on her forehead. Standing up he kicked the boat away from the dock. "There's no going back now." He said, as he went back over to the main mast ready to host the sails.

"Max." The Captain commanded.

Their other crew member who was facing Maria in the middle seat gave her a smile and an encouraging wink and upon receiving his first command from his former Captain began to vigorously row them out onto the dark ocean waters. Nope, Maria mused, there's no going back now.

Once Max had gotten them far enough away from the dock, the Captain began to open the sails up. It had been decided that silence was of great importance to the success of the mission. They needed to sneak up on the island without any detection. That meant no engine's for their arrival and they needed to get their before the sun rose. Darkness, although making their journey all the harder, was in deed their friend.

As the wind caught the huge billowing mast, the ship took off at an abounding speed catching Maria off guard.

The ship lurched forward churning the water in its path while Maria held on for dear life.

"Turn Starboard." The Captain yelled from his position by the sails. It took Maria a moment to realize that the Captain was speaking to her. Again her eyes scanned out Max for the answer.

"Starboard," Max simply repeated for her. Raising a hand in question Max shook his head and mouthed the words "to the right."

"Oh okay," Maria's hand instinctively turned to the right which pushed the vessel to the left. Even knowing before that this would happen, for her mind had already figured out that to push the velocity of water to go in a certain direction, one would have to cause friction in the opposite direction, her hand and arm heard right. So that's the direction they went. Infuriating the Captain as the vessel nearly flipped on its side causing him to stumble on the deck.

"What in God's name are you doing?" He yelled as he regained his footing.

Quickly Maria fixed her mistake and set the rudder in the direction that had been requested, "I don't know, I've never done this before."

"Are you kidding me? You own an entire fleet of ships and yet you've never sailed one?"

Trying to cover her flushing cheeks, for it wasn't often that Maria made a mistake, she stammered, "I don't much care for the water."

Throwing his hands up in frustration, the Captain grimaced, "Of course not, what was I thinking? I forgot that Peter Pan prefers flight over sail." In an attempt to pace the small deck of their pitching vessel the Captain slipped again when Maria couldn't fight the urge to swiftly jerk the rudder. Almost stumbling over the side this time, the Captain threw her a menacing look. "Max, relieve Maria from her position."

"With pleasure," Max said as he came over to take her place. Patting her on the elbow as he helped her find her sea legs to move, "I normally wouldn't be so agreeable with him darling, for there is nothing more fun than watching you two try to kill the other. You're making me a little sea sick."

Taking her seat of punishment in the middle of the boat, Maria almost missed the banter as they continued the rest of their journey in silence. Even if the banter made her temper boil, it was better than thinking of what waited ahead for them. Now it was all that she could think of.

_**A/N I know it's a short chapter, but I wanted to get it posted. Hope you all like it, for it might be a while before I will get the next one up. It's gonna take me some time to sort out the next adventure. But hopefully before the next week is over I'll get it written.**_

_**And I wanted to thank you all for the wonderful reviews. They really are an encouragement when I at times feel I am losing the story. It helps me to know that I haven't gone too far off track.**_


	38. Chapter 38

Chapter 38

Upon reaching the edge of the island, the Captain shimmied up the main mast, much to Maria's horror.

"My God, what are you doing?" She whispered through the darkness, much to herself and Max since she was sure that the Captain couldn't hear her as he made his endeavor. She would have jumped from her seat to stop him, but fear held her still. For she was sure any sudden disturbance to their craft would send him falling to his death.

"Maria, relax." Max soothed from the rudder. "He's looking for any sign of life on the island. He'll be able to see past the trees from up there."

"But…but…" Maria couldn't finish her thought as the Captain faltered mid-way up the mast; though quickly he regained his hold on the thick wooden structure. "I can't look." She simply finished and tore her eyes away from him even as the lump in her throat swelled to massive proportions.

Setting her gaze upon the tiny island which she was sure was her children's current prison, she half took in the scene in front of her while in her mind she still envisioned the Captain's climbing effort. Each grunt and shuffle emanating from the Captain sent her heart into a panic of flutter. This wouldn't do, she thought to herself. It wouldn't be a good thing to save her children while losing the man that she loved in the process.

Stop that, she admonished herself; don't confuse what you're feeling for love. As if convincing her heart, she finished her internal monologue with a "we don't love him." Her heart however, refused to be silenced and finally convinced her brain to go along with itself, for even as she finished her sentence another thought came flittering through her mind that she couldn't stop. It simply said, "Yes we do."

Fine, she gave into herself having lost the strength to go against both her heart and her mind. Maybe we do love him but that doesn't mean….her last thought was silenced as Max yelled up to the Captain.

"Georg, do you see anything?"

Taking a chance to glance upon the Captain, who at this point was perched all the way at the top of the mast, holding on for dear life with both legs and one arm wrapped around the stick while his other free arm raised a set of binoculars to his eyes.

"I see what could be a small clearing about fifty yards past the trees on the left side of the island." The Captain became silent for a moment and although it was hard to make out his features for the dawn had yet to show itself, Maria thought she could see him scanning the island some more from his perch.

"I think we can dock close to the clearing. But we'll have to be careful, I see some rocks right before the beach on that side. Bring her in to the left and we'll be alright."

Max moved his position back to the oars, before taking his seat he scanned the waters ahead of them. Maria followed his line of vision, squinting against the darkness of the murky waters and the air. Hearing a knowing sound come from Max's throat she squinted a little harder to see whatever it was that he and the Captain had. All for naught, for all she could see was darkness all around.

Before returning to the deck, the Captain beamed his flashlight across the dark waters towards Vilhelm's ship. Upon receiving a series of lights back from their comrades, the Captain finally shimmied down the pole to safety. It was only then that Maria let out the breath that she had been holding.

"They're going to dock on the other side of the island." The Captain informed his crew once his feet were firmly back on deck. It had been a long time since his days in the Navy and an even longer time since he had to do the grunt work of an ensign. His body was unforgiving as his muscles went into a spasm from the workout that he had just given them. "Then meet us by the clearing. I'm pretty sure I saw a sign of smoke coming over the trees, there has to be a dwelling of some kind or another nestled in the clearing."

Maria took in the Captain. He had a determined set to his eye that she had never seen before. It was almost as if she could see the clocks in his brain spinning and calculating, formulating a clear plan to their attack. He was in militaristic mode and as much as it was awe inspiring it was also frightful, making Maria grateful that he was on their side.

Once Max had gotten past the jagged rocks that Maria could now see since they had come upon them, the Captain jumped out of the skiff and pulled them the rest of the way onto the shore. Securing the oars, Max then jumped into the ankle high water, telling Maria to stay on board until they had the boat firmly on ground.

The knots in Maria's stomach cinched harder as the full weight of what was about to happen settled upon her. The island was a mile wide and half of that across. It was no more than a speck of dirt in the middle of vastness, and yet she could sense that there was a reason that it had been chosen. There was a smell to the air of danger even as they scanned their surroundings finding no guards protecting its perimeter.

Meeting the Captain's eyes, Maria could sense that he felt it too. After whispering something to Max, the Captain came over to her removing something from his waistband.

"Maria," he began, although he hadn't needed to finish for Maria already knew what he was going to say, and she already knew the argument she was going to have against it. "I want you to stay here with the boat while Max and I go in."

"No, Georg." She said pushing his hand away when he went to hand her the gun that he had pulled out of his waistband.

"Maria," he began in exasperation and clenched teeth, "if you think for one moment that I'm going to let you walk into danger…"

"It doesn't matter what you think," she cut off his speech, "the entire thing is a ruse."

"A ruse, what are you talking about?" He questioned, bewilderment finding a home upon his features.

Shaking her head she berated herself for having been so stupid. She had fallen into their trap and had even led the way for the rest of them. Dammit, she should have seen this coming.

"Look at this place. It's in the middle of nowhere. Why would they bring the children here?" In hindsight she could see the puzzle pieces fitting together now where they hadn't made sense before. The remoteness of the island, how easy it was for them to access it- she was no longer blind to their game.

"You're not making any sense, Maria." The Captain said as Max came over to see what it was that they were speaking about.

"It's not the children that they want or the railroad. It never was." Maria said looking out into the distance towards the trees of the island off of the beach. The trees which naturally hid the inner part of the island and Maria knew undoubtedly just what they concealed behind the wooded veil - A lab and more than likely a concrete bunker. Then she focused her gaze back to the ocean surrounding them. They were far enough from any main land for nothing to be heard for miles around, yet close enough to not be cut off from all contact.

"Then what do they want, Maria?" The Captain asked almost as if he were humoring her.

"Me, Georg. She said meeting his eyes, "They want me."

As if on cue, they all heard the unmistakable sound of multiple rifles cocking. All three of their heads turned toward the sound searching for its owner. The sight that fell upon them made their hearts sink. Marching in a straight line were Vilhelm, Daniel and their third crewman with their hands placed behind their heads. Following behind them were two Nazi guards with guns pointing to their backs.

But that was not where the sounds originated from. Coming from the north of them out of the tree line were two more guards guns trained upon them. Behind the guards walking nonchalantly with a smile of satisfaction plastered onto his face was Dr. Fassbender his arms, draped across her two children's shoulders.

When Maria saw her two children alive and well her heart soared into her chest. That is until she realized that upon seeing their mother they didn't run into her arms as she had imagined them doing a thousand times in her head since they had been taken. Nor did she move from her spot on the beach. Their happy reunion stolen by the threat of the guns trained upon them.

"Ahhh…Maria, you are quite right. I wondered how long it would take you to figure out our little plan. I had thought that maybe you wouldn't come, but yet here you are." The doctor said as he walked himself and her children within inches of her, his arms never releasing their grip on them. "I told them you would…I told them the girl would do anything for her children. It was my idea to take them. Now we will negotiate your terms."

Motioning with his head to the other two guards giving them a silent command, the two moved towards the Captain and Max thrusting them into a kneeling position on the beach.

"Hands behind your heads," they shouted at them as they pushed the barrel of their weapons into the backs of the Captain and Max. She could see the fight in the Captain's eyes and prayed to God that he would listen to the soldiers and not bring any harm upon himself. With the way they were positioned on the beach, the Captain and Max were slightly behind her with the Captain along her knees.

"You don't have to be so rough with them," Maria berated the two guards, "they are doing as you ask." When the guards turned to regard her, the Captain placed something between her feet. She didn't have to be a genius to figure out just what the object was and her blood ran cold as she realized she was their only hope of getting off of this island alive.

"What do you want, Fassbender?" The Captain sneered between his teeth, the question barely leaving his mouth before one of the guards jammed the butt of his rifle into his shoulder. The Captain hollered in pain falling face first into the sand. Stepping on the gun to conceal it, Maria leaned over and helped the Captain back to his knees whispering in his ear, "just do as they say."

"Maria, Maria…" Fassbender sighed her name as if a benediction, "why don't I let you enlighten your friends on the purpose of this little expedition?" Grabbing her by her arm, Fassbender lifted her away from the Captain into a standing position. "Tell them," he demanded in a rough tone, "tell them why you are here."

Swallowing against the bile in her throat the words finally slid out of her mouth, "They want me to create a weapon."

"What?" The Captain asked.

"Didn't she tell you?" Fassbender bent into the Captains face, finally letting go of her children. "Didn't she tell you that she is a scientific genius? For goodness sakes man, this woman wrote thesis' when she was seven that Sir Albert Einstein himself reads for enlightenment." Turning back to Maria with a smile as if he were her best friend, "We tried to get him, by the way, but he fled to the States." Tsking under his breath he continued, "All for the well really, for with you we have insurance." Taking both of her children by the arm, Fassbender squeezed their tender skin making the twins cry out in pain.

"Let them go!" Both Maria and the Captain yelled at the same time, causing the doctor to laugh at their predicament.

"You see, I told my superiors that I could get you right where I wanted you." The doctor said unevenly through his laughter. "They didn't believe me. Now look, who has the upper hand now? I will be the talk of the Reich when they hear what I have done."

"You're insane." Maria said as she bent down to get the gun while Fassbender was distracted with his own self appreciation. Meanwhile a plan was formulating in her head at his confession.

Holding the gun out in front of her, Fassbenders laughter silenced.

"Put the gun down or I'll kill the children." He threatened her.

However, Maria didn't falter from his threat. There was one thing that they wanted and she held the upper hand whether or not they knew it. As she lifted the gun to her own head, she watched as fear entered into Fassbenders eyes. If he didn't know it before, he knew it now.

"Let my children and my friends leave this island peacefully, or I will pull this trigger." She let her cool steal gaze settle upon the doctor.

"You're bluffing," Fassbender said licking his lips, his voice giving away his uncertainty.

Cocking the trigger, Maria tried to steady her fast beating heart before she spoke. She had to at least pretend that she was in control, "Do you want to bet on that?"


	39. Chapter 39

Chapter 39

_There was one thing that they wanted and she held the upper hand whether or not they knew it. As she lifted the gun to her own head, she watched as fear entered into Fassbenders eyes. If he didn't know it before, he knew it now._

"_Let my children and my friends leave this island peacefully, or I will pull this trigger." She let her cool steal gaze settle upon the doctor. _

"_You're bluffing," Fassbender said licking his lips, his voice giving away his uncertainty._

_Cocking the trigger, Maria tried to steady her fast beating heart before she spoke. She had to at least pretend that she was in control, "Do you want to bet on that?"_

The Nazi guards trained their guns onto Maria.

"Put your weapons down." Fassbender commanded when he feared the guards would react to her threat, "She's of no use to us dead!"

Finding a voice from deep within her, Maria gathered up her courage.

"That's right. I won't be any use to you all dead. And if you don't do as I say, I will use my own hand to meet my maker here and now. However, if you let them all go to safety, I will stay here on this island and create the wonder weapon that you want."

"Mother…" Liam cried. He of all people knew of what they were asking of her. He knew the destruction that the type of weapon she could create could make. When he was five he had found her papers hidden in a chest in her room. She had never forgotten the look upon his face when she had come upon him reading. He had done the calculations already and had read her thesis as well as her declaration at the end. _For though it can be done, it should never be. As scientists we can manipulate and calculate and perceive these wondrous inventions, but as humans we have a certain responsibility to respect the science and make sure these things never come to light_.

She had added that part to her thesis right before it was published without her father's knowledge. She hadn't wanted to publish it at all, but Sigmund wouldn't be denied his day in the sun. Oh how proud he had been of himself for having a child that had opened a paradox in the world of science that no man had ever dreamed of. He had seen it as an accomplishment, whereas Maria had seen it for what it was. Science at its worst. Little did her father know or the other scholars- she had left out viable parts of her experimentation. The general theory was there but the general know how she excluded. She had known that if it had ever fallen into the wrong hands the threat it would make on humanity would be catastrophic.

Maria could see Fassbenders façade slowly depreciating. Although all she wanted to do was look upon her two children and tell them everything was going to be alright, she held her ground and her gaze.

She watched as the doctor calculated his next move. Just when she thought that he was going to call her on her bluff he pushed her children towards the boat.

"Fine," he huffed, "get them all on the boat!" Maria let out her breath. Grateful that he had given in when he had for she didn't know how much longer she could have held it together.

The guards did as they were told and started pushing Vilhelm and his men towards the boat while Fassbender released her children who didn't seem in a rush to leave their captive island.

"Mother, we can't leave you." Lynn cried as she rushed to her mother placing her arms around Maria who still held the gun to her head. "I won't leave you." She cried into Maria's breast.

"Baby, I'll be alright. Go with your Grandfather. I will be home with you soon enough." It broke Maria's heart to make a false promise to her daughter, but she could only hope that it would be true. She would give her life to spare her children's. Any mother would do that. Well except her own mother who to the end had been a coward. The irony of the situation had finally struck Maria. Had not one of her last images of her own mother been of the woman holding a gun to her own head? And here was Maria doing the same in front of her children. However, if Maria had been forced to pull the trigger it wouldn't have been to escape the danger, but to save her children.

The two guards stationed with the Captain and Max began jabbing at the two men. "Get on the boat." The one guard said in a gruff voice. Reluctantly, both Max and the Captain stood to their feet and began moving towards the boat. For a moment Maria had worried that the Captain was going to try something stupid and over power one of the guards. But Maria caught his eye before he made his move and she simply mouthed, "Trust me."

From behind her, Fassbender ordered, "Not that one. The Captain will stay here."

Maria turned to Fassbender as one of the guards grabbed the Captain by the shoulder stopping his retreat.

"He leaves too!" She shouted tightening her grip on the barrel of the gun.

"Oh no darling," Fassbender sneered at her with a smirk on his face as if he had just won the Autobahn. "I need some sort of insurance that you will do as you are told. And I do believe, lover boy over here, will do just fine for that."

The Captain started to struggle out of the guards grip causing a second guard to come and slam the butt of his rifle into the Captains upper thigh. Falling onto the ground the guard the pushed the Captains face into the sand whispering a threat into his ear to still his movements. When the Captain finally brought his face up to meet Maria's she almost cried from the look of defeat upon his features.

"Leave him alone!" Maria cried. "He goes or I pull this trigger."

"Please," Fassbender said in a disbelieving tone. Rolling his eyes at her.

"I'll stay." Vilhelm, who had been silent all this time proclaimed as he ignored the guards and walked back up on the beach, "This man has a family to care for. Let him go and I'll take his place."

"You?" Fassbender snickered at her father in law. She had never in her entire life heard anyone speak to Vilhelm with the contempt that this man just had. She almost imagined Vilhelm's hand coming out and smacking the insolence out of him.

"What good are you going to do me?" Fassbender asked on a laugh, "she's not your whore, she's his….or maybe," the doctor pretended be in great thought, "maybe she's your whore too? I have done much research on your families. The entire lot are a little bit odd. Maybe, hmmm, yes maybe…the best revenge for your late wife and Maria's father after their life long affair would be to take the scoundrels daughter to bed…heh? Or better yet, when your son didn't produce any heirs as his end was nearing you thought you'd take matter into your own hands, so to speak."

Maria couldn't take anymore as the sick and twisted thoughts flew out of Fassbenders' mouth. In front of her own children no less who were old enough to know exactly what the doctor was referring to. Without thinking the hand holding the gun swung away from her temple and pushed the cold metal into Fassbenders' forehead. Instantly Maria heard the guards all cocking their weapons onto her to protect their commander.

"You will watch what you say in front of my children, Fassbender." The authority in her own voice startling her.

Turning to the guards she drilled them with her gaze, "Before you do anything, I think you'll want to hear what I have to say. You're lives depend upon it." She finished as the one guard with the bronze on his uniform nodded to his fellow soldiers all of whom lowered their guns marginally.

Regarding Fassbender who hadn't moved away from the barrel of her gun with a smug expression on his face as if she were playing a game, "If you have done great research on my family, then sir, you would know that I have been in this situation before. And you would know that I walked away with only a scar on my neck. So don't test me or I will," coming close to the man's face she made him feel her words as she said them so that only he could hear them, "pull…this…trigger."

Turning back to the guards she began what had slowly formulated into her head since Fassbender's earlier confession. There had been something to it that had struck her as funny and if her suspicions were true, she had found the loophole she had needed without even having to look for it. For the idiot had given it to her on a silver platter.

"If my understanding is correct, Fassbender, then you have concocted this entire scheme on your own, am I correct?"

Fassbender's eyes filled with pride for himself, "Yes, that is correct. I've been over looked for long enough in this political system. But now, they'll see what I am capable of."

"And do these men know that you aren't acting under official orders?"

"It doesn't matter. When they find out that I have in my possession the greatest asset for Hitler, I'll be moved to the seat next to him and these men will receive my pardon. As a matter of fact they will all receive the highest honor for participating in your acquirement." Maria fought hard not to hit him as he talked of her as a possession rather than a person.

"Well, Fassbender," Maria said giving him the best sympathetic look she could muster, "here's the problem with your plan. You see, had you actually done your research well into the background of my family you would have discovered something integral that might have persuaded you to change your course of action." She paused as Fassbender tsked at her accusation. Oh how she couldn't wait to wipe that smug grin off of his face. Going on as if she didn't see his ostentatious look she continued, "you would have discovered that my late husband Bill and I were only children."

Huffing under his breath, "Of course I knew that. What does this have to do with anything."

Pushing the barrel of the gun further into his skin Maria hissed, "Shut up and let me finish. Since neither of us had a sibling and the only other family member we had was our Aunt Adelaide, we turned to close family friends to be the god-parents for our children. We had wanted a couple and the only couple that qualified for us was our neighbors in the town that we grew up in. Hyde Park, New York. Have you ever heard of it?" Fassbender shook his head, annoyance having spread across his face at the time she was taking in making her point. But oh it felt so good, she didn't want to rush it.

"My husband and I were friends with their children growing up and spent a lot of time at their home, when they weren't out of town pursuing the husband's political career."

"Is there a point to this enlightenment?" Fassbender asked his patience having run out.

"Oh yes," she said turning back to the guards, "and this is the point you gentlemen are going to want to play close attention to. You see men; you have been acting under the orders of a rogue commander. He probably told you a bunch of lies of how you will be hailed as heroes for your actions by the Fuhrer himself. However, I do believe that once he has found out what you have done without his wishes, he will be quite upset with you all. For, though I am sure he would love a scientist to make his wonder weapon he doesn't want to do so while making the United States government quite angry. Oh no, he doesn't want any involvement with the states just yet."

"And they won't be involved." Fassbender said to his men to calm their suspicions, "They have no interest here."

"Oh yes, they do." Maria said, "For you gentlemen have just kidnapped the god-daughter and god-son of the President and First Lady of the United States of America. Whom I placed a phone call with right before we started on this little expedition, including the coordinates of your little island here. If we don't return to port before 9am, and I don't verify our safety myself, your little island is going to be surrounded by warships, which undoubtedly will include some of your own. Since Uncle Franklin said the first thing he was going to do was telephone your leader himself. I'm sure by now, the Fuhrer is scratching his head wondering how in the hell he's gotten into such a mess. He's not going to be happy, I can guarantee it." With a smile on her lips she watched as her news hit Fassbender like a bomb. He looked like he was going to throw up on her feet as it all settled upon him.

The guards, who hadn't said one word throughout her entire speech, looked upon each other for their next move. The one that seemed to be the leader swung his weapon in the direction of their commander.

"Take your children and leave." One of the men said to her as the rest of the soldiers advanced onto Fassbender.

When the clouds had cleared from her vision, Maria ran to her children finally able to hug them the way she had wanted to. Her body was a mass of trembles as the adrenaline rushed from her system. How he knew she need him at the moment she didn't know, but before she knew it, the Captain was within their group hug, holding her up giving her the support she needed. When they had finished hugging the children to within inches of their lives, they held onto the other with Maria crying out her fear into his neck.

"You did it." He whispered into her neck. "You were amazing."

"I was so scared," she confessed, then regaining her senses, she remembered all of the physical blows he had received. "Are you alright?" She asked beginning to check him over.

"Yes, yes…I'll survive." He said stilling her hands bringing them up against her chest, "now let's bring our children home." Bringing both of her children back into their circle he began to walk all of them over to the boat. "They've been through enough and I'm sure the rest of their family can't wait to hear some news from us."

While on the ride back over to the mainland, the Captain sat with Liam on his lap with Lynn in between him and Maria. Vilhelm and Max sat opposite them while two of the henchmen rowed the boat and Daniel steered the rudder.

"There's just one thing I don't understand." The Captain said, breaking the relative silence.

"Just one thing?" Lynn questioned lying against her mother's breast.

"If you had this ace in the hole the entire time…the President…" he clarified his meaning when Maria raised a questioning eyebrow at him, "why didn't you say so in the first place?"

"Uh…"Maria blushed and looked out onto the water giving him her most innocent of faces she confessed, "because I made the entire thing up."

The Captain's eyes grew wide, "You what?"

"Didn't you know?" She asked innocently kicking Max and Vilhelm as they laughed at the Captain's reaction.

"No! I really thought there was going to be hundreds of warships coming to our rescue."

"Yeah, no." She shrugged her shoulders to him, "I thought of it and I figured they would either believe me or not, we really didn't have anything to lose at that point."

The Captain released the loudest bellow she had ever heard causing Liam and Lynn to break out in raucous laughter.

"Remind me children never to challenge your mother in poker. She is not only a scientific genius but a master at bluffing as well." Nodding his head towards her he said, "I bow to your superiority."


	40. Chapter 40

Chapter 40

After Lynn and Liam's safe return home, Maria had proceeded with her original plans taking them and the von Trapp children to Vilhelm's home in Vols. This was still to be their last week in Austria and she wanted her children to be able to spend what little time they had left in the freedom of her father in law's estate. Although, they were relatively safe for now, since upon Vilhelm's return to the Captain's home he himself placed a phone call and spoke to the Fuhrer himself recalling all that had taken place.

Imagine Maria's surprise when the man had asked to speak to her and formally apologized for the actions of one of his officers. He then of course asked her if she would indeed work for him on the very same project that Fassbender had tried to coerce her into doing. Needless to say, she refused, explaining to the Fuhrer that she was nothing more than a simple grade school teacher and single mother. She didn't have the heart of a scientist and he would be better suited to find someone who did.

The man had been surprisingly gracious about her refusal, which had prompted Maria to ask for one more favor from the Fuhrer. If the Captain ever found out what she had done, he would be furious she was certain. He was a man after all. A very proud and stubborn man who she was sure would have his ego hurt knowing that a woman had meddled with his affairs. Still, even knowing this, she struck a deal with Hitler ensuring that the Captain and his children would be free to leave Austria without any resistance from the Reich if the Anschluss occurred. Since Franz had been relating all of the Captain's business to the underbelly of the Reich already nestled in Austria, the Captain could have been tried for treason for his dealings with the English Navy.

This had been a harder deal to negotiate and Maria was forced to give in to the Fuhrer's demands more than she had wanted. Hitler held the higher ground, however, leaving Maria no choice but to concede the railroad that he most desperately wanted. It was a hard loss to swallow for Maria, but it was worth the eight lives that she loved more than life itself. In the end, she realized she would have sold herself if it had meant keeping the Captain and the children out of harm's way. She was consolidated at least with the final deal that they had made. She hadn't exactly sold the railroad to the Reich. She would transfer owner ship over to the government of Switzerland. Being a neutral country they had to allow all access to the railroad, thus insuring that Hitler's army could use it as they wished.

After she and the Fuhrer had finally both agreed to terms that suited them, Maria let out a sigh of relief. It was as if the weight that had been on her shoulders since the beginning of summer had finally lifted clearing her mind to focus on her immediate future. Before, all of the danger and the uncertainty had fogged her mind, but now all that remained was settling the matters of her heart. For this she needed time away. Or maybe she was still running away. Hoping that by putting some distance between herself and the Captain she could make her heart un-fall in love again.

As it was she couldn't stop herself on that last night in his home from going to his bedroom in the middle of the night. She couldn't help herself, there was an ache deep within her that she needed to quiet and he was the only cure. Sneaking into his room she chastised herself for being so weak as to not fight off the urge to be with him. She had almost succeeded in getting her feet to stop moving into his bedroom when she rounded the corner and caught him staring out his bedroom window. He was standing in shadow, his shoulders hunched in defeat. He looked so lost and lonely that she had to go and soothe his soul.

She had come up behind him, from the change in his body tension she knew that he had realized she was there. Running her hands up his back, he turned in her arms, his eyes filled with questions. The very same questions that she dreaded him asking for she didn't have the answers to give him. Shaking her head to stop him from speaking and breaking the spell, she had nuzzled herself into his chest. Automatically his arms had encircled her and the ache that had been drumming through her body began to subside. She needed this, she needed him. How she had wished with all her might that it could be forever, but after what had happened that day, she knew that it couldn't. Who would willingly walk into a life filled with such chaos as hers? Surely not him now that he knew what she had been trying to warn him about.

She had kissed him then, chastely on his lips. Then she had run her lips over the stubble of his jaw to his ear. Standing on her tiptoes she finally broke the silence by whispering in his ear, "I need you tonight, Georg. Make love to me." His sharp intake of breath made her heart flutter into her throat, "Make me forget." She had pleaded while running her fingers through his hair. Without a word he had gathered her up in his arms and had brought her over to his bed.

On that final night together they had taken their time. Reverently worshiping the others body as if it were their bible, memorizing verse and proverb. There were quiet whispers against skin and unspoken promises that were only meant to be broken while they shed their sweat and tears. She had held him close to her. Not allowing him to leave even an inch between them, though no matter how close he was it wasn't enough. He had moved slowly within her never taking his eyes off her face, or her his, even when his lips would gently meet hers and they would swallow the others moans.

She knew what he had wanted that night. And though her mind and body fought it at first she wanted to give it to him. He at least deserved this, she told herself as her body started to give in to the demands of his movements. She may not be able to give him her heart, she may not be able to promise him the future they both dreamed of but this…this she could give to him. No matter how hard it was to give, for though in their previous love making she had gone over the edge of climax with him, it had been conceived in chaos. They had both been lost in the passion, eyes shut tight and holding on for dear life. Now he was holding back, waiting for her, needing to watch her surrender to him. It was a precious gift she knew, to let someone in, to trust someone enough to give yourself over to completely allowing them to lead you into the fire and back.

When it finally came it too built achingly slow and she fought the urge to throw her head back and give in to it. Her lips had begun to tremble while her eyes had filled with tears. Needing something to brace herself with she had gripped his head, digging her fingers into his skull, as her body stiffened. Still he watched her as if he was imprinting the moment into his memory. He was the master painter and she was his masterpiece. In reverent awe he watched her give into the vulnerability finally surrendering to the release as wave after wave it washed over her. She felt the tears spill from her eyes, never before had she shared such an intimacy. She had let him see into her soul, into the deepest part of her, and he hadn't run from what he had seen there.

Later he had tried to talk to her, tried to get her to change her mind about leaving for Vols. But she had refused.

"Let's not ruin the night by arguing." She had said, and then cuddled into his arms. "We'll talk in the morning." Promises made, promises broken.

She had snuck out of the room before the first light of morning. Showering fast in the old governess's room, she had packed the rest of her belongings and was ready to head off to her father in laws house before breakfast was ready to be served.

They had been in Vols for five days now and still the haunting memory of the Captain's eyes on the day she had left with the children kept her up at night. His eyes, which had been a storm of love and wonder the night before were instead filled with hurt and anger. They had reached out to her, begging her to stay, to give in to herself. When she had refused, she saw the walls build back up in them. The darkness that she had excised from his soul at the beginning of summer once again colored his eyes having resettled itself back home.

"Fraulein Maria?" Liesl's questioning voice interrupted her memories. "You miss him, don't you?" Tearing her gaze from the window that she had been peering out unconsciously awaiting the Captains arrival for Lynn and Liam's birthday dinner she blushed having been caught in her reverie.

At first Maria tried to play dumb, "Miss who?" Before the words were even out of her mouth, Liesl had given her the "don't even try it" face. Looking back out the window then back to the girl who was no longer a child she said, "Yes I do, very much."

"Do you love Father?" Maria's head snapped at the blunt question.

"Yes, I suppose I do, but love takes on many forms Liesl. I do love your father, but it's," Maria fought in her mind trying to come up with a way to explain to the girl the matters of the heart. "It's complicated. Sometimes life is too complicated for love."

"Oh I don't know," Liesl said whimsically looking around the room as if she were trying to hide the wisdom behind her young eyes. Suddenly Maria felt the student to Liesl's teacher, "I think it's only as complicated as we make it."

"I…" Maria tried to speak, but the truth of Liesl's words made her speechless. Funny, Maria had gone the entire summer fighting with herself, denying her feelings, trying to find reasons to run. They were all good reasons, they all had sound foundations. Or so she had thought.

"Liesl," Maria began sensibly more for her benefit than the girls, "Even if I do love your father, I'm leaving for America in four days' time. And your father is.."

"Taking us to England." Maria's eyes grew wide. How did she know? Before she could ask that very question Liesl supplied her with the answer. "I overheard Father talking to Uncle Max."

"Oh, well, if the Anschluss happens it is the better choice than staying here Liesl."

The girl's eyes welled up with tears, "But I love it here, this is our home."

Maria shook her head and took Liesl into her arms, "No it's not, not anymore. Our home is just a memory now. The Austria we know is slowly fading from us. And once the Germans take over I'm afraid it will all just disappear."

"If we have to leave Austria, then I want to go with you. All of us children do. Can't you make Father change his mind?" Liesl tightened her arms around Maria's waist, "Or you could come with us."

"I can't do that. I couldn't watch your father…go to sea…I…just couldn't…" Whenever Maria thought of the Captain's life in England all she could imagine was him leaving on a mission and then never coming back. The idea scarred her so much she couldn't form a coherent sentence.

"Then get him to go with you to America. He'll listen to you."

Maria shook her head, "So much has happened, too many mistakes now and in the past. I just don't think…I mean..he and I, we're both stubborn…it's…it's..it's,"

"Complicated." Liesl finished for her.

"Right."

"Then you two need to fix it. This is our future you both are being stubborn about. It's not just the two of you involved in all of this. There are eleven of us total."

"Liesl!" Both women turned to see the Captain standing in the doorway of the parlor room.

"Father!" Liesl greeted- her eyes gone wide. "How long have you been standing there?"

The Captain's stance was rigid straight, his eyes cold and unforgiving at his daughters surprising conduct.

"Long enough Liesl to know…" Maria was sure there was going to be more words of reprimand for his daughter's insubordinate behavior. But before he could finish his thought, Liesl cut him off.

"Good. Then I won't have to repeat myself when I say that the two of you are being very selfish. Stop thinking just of yourselves and consider the rest of the family."

Maria was sure she was going to need a crane to lift the Captains chin off of the floor. When Liesl moved to leave the room she started towards the door that the Captain stood in. Quickly grabbing the girl by the shoulders, Maria turned her to the direction of the opposite exit of the parlor room.

"I think you're better off going out that way, my dear." She said pushing Liesl toward the safer exit, for she was sure had she walked past her father at this point he would have grabbed her in a strangle hold.

"What was that all about?" The Captain asked after he had recovered from his shock.

"I think the children are angry with us."

"With us?" He asked not masking his sarcastic tone. "I'm not the one being stubborn." He said as he walked further into the room.

Maria let his comment slide. He had a right to be angry after all. She had left his bed without so much as a word. Biting her lip, she took him in for the first time since his arrival. Though only days had gone by with his absence to her it felt as though it had been years. It didn't pass her attention that her heart which had thudded dead in her chest for the past days kicked into the next gear.

Walking up to him she moved to take his hand into hers, "I've missed you." She whispered the unbidden words. Her heart sank in her chest as the Captain pushed her hands away from him as if her touch burned him.

"Don't." He simply said. Setting his features to stone he moved a step back from her. "Don't." He repeated and Maria couldn't stop the hurt coming into her own eyes at his rebuff. "You left without saying goodbye." He said and Maria could tell that he hadn't meant to say the words. They had exited his mouth just as her own had wound their way from her soul. "Why did you?"

Why did she? She turned his question over in her mind. Of course she knew the answer to that, but how could she make him understand. How do you make someone understand that you are not worthy of their love?

"I had my reasons."

"I wish I understood them."

She moved towards him reaching out to him, this time however he moved further back raising both arms to ward her off.

"Don't." He said again. "I had told myself that eventually I could get you to open up and let me in and that until then I could love for the both of us. But, I can't. I miss my wife. I'll always miss her, just as you will always miss Bill. But for you I ache and the more I push you the further you move from me. I can't go on with this one sided love."

Her heart and mind began to panic. What had she done? She couldn't lose him, she simply couldn't and now it seemed that she had and she wanted to beat herself for being so stubborn.

"It's not one sided." She whispered to the floor unable to his cold eyes. He had shut himself away from her and suddenly she felt lonelier than she ever had in her life.

"You've never said. Not even in passion. You've never said the words."

"Because I don't deserve you."

The Captain let out a long breath of air. Coming closer to her, he lifted a finger under her chin making her look upon his face.

"Maria, you deserve more than I could ever give you. I don't know why you think so little of yourself when you're the most amazing woman I've ever met. What is it that you are trying to hide? What is it that you are so scared for me to find out about you?"

Maria pressed her hands on either side of her temples. She couldn't take the pressure anymore. Her entire life was summed up on that one night. One mistake-that one moment in time that kept her prisoner for the rest of her life. It was time to let it go.

Her entire body started to shake as she fought with herself. Move on or stay in the quick sand memories of a past she couldn't change. Back and forth she fought. Brain against heart and conscious against sub-conscious she battled herself.

It wasn't until he let out a disgusted sigh and moved from her that the words fell out of her mouth like a life rope. Hoping the truth would set her free.

"I killed a man once." Her confession burned her throat, but it made the Captain turn back to her with shock in his eyes. "I killed my father. I'm a murderer and I don't deserve to be on this earth let alone to be loved."

"What?" The Captain asked, though Maria couldn't be sure as the sound of stampeding children echoed down the hall.

Bursting into the room the eight children rushed to the Captain who quickly tried to mask his composure and greet them properly. The children swarmed around him regaling him with their adventures of the past days. The Captain half listened to them and half pinned Maria with his gaze as his unasked questions lay within his eyes. While Maria readied herself to answer them.

_A/n…another cliffhanger I know, but not to worry I'll have the next update up in the next day or so. If not tonight if I find a little time today. I have most of it written already and was going to include it in this chapter, but I felt this was a better ending. Anyway, thanks for reading. I do love to hear from you all. It is your words of encouragement that keep me going! I am almost sad that we are coming to an end of this story. _


	41. Chapter 41

Chapter 41

They spent the rest of the day with all of the children. Liesl had finally come out of hiding for dinner. They played games on the expansive grounds of the estate. They sang songs and raced toy boats in the lake. When dinner was over they watched the birthday film that Bill had made for the twins for their tenth birthday. As well as the film that had been viewed for their ninth birthday since it was one of Liam's favorites.

They had all laughed together as Bill had played tricks on Maria in the ninth birthday film showing the children all that he had done to torture her when they were children. He had set a hidden camera in the kitchen that Maria hadn't known about and had a friend come over to help him play some of the tricks. First, as Maria had been preparing bottles for the infant twins with Liam sitting in one of the high chairs, Bill and his friend had snuck behind Maria's back removing Liam from the chair and placing Lynn in his place.

Meanwhile, Maria had her back turned and was clueless as to what was going on behind her, continuing an entire conversation with her infant son.

"Liam," she had said, "I can't believe your sister is still sleeping. She is a lazy little girl today. But oh well, that just gives mommy some alone time with her little man." Just as Maria had said that, she had turned with the finished bottle, stopping dead in her tracks when she had realized that it wasn't Liam sitting in the high chair anymore, but Lynn.

The look upon Maria's face in the film had been priceless as she tried to figure out how she had mixed up her son from her daughter. "Lynn?" She had said, "I would have sworn. I..I" She had looked around the room then shook her head. "I think you two are keeping me up too much at night. I'm starting to go batty."

The film continued on like that. All day long Bill had played one trick after another on Maria. When she had finally caught him at his game she had slapped her husband on the chest. Laughing at his antics.

"You're an idiot." She had said to him.

"But you love me anyway." He had replied to her as he bent her over the piano where the running camera had been.

"Watch carefully children." Bill said into the camera, "I used to do this all the time to your mother when we were little." He pinned Maria's shoulders down then leaned up into her face. From the back of his throat he made a sucking sound and Maria's eyes had gone wide when she had realized what her husband was going to do.

"Don't you dare." She had warned starting to fidget out of his grasp. Bill gave a devilish laugh then allowed a stream of spit to come out of his mouth. He would let it get so close to Maria's face then suck it back in.

"Bill!" Maria had screamed but this just made Bill torture her more. "I hate it when you do that!" Finally when he had finished having his fun with his wife, Bill suggestively raised his eyebrows at the camera then passionately kissed his wife.

"You don't hate it when I do that." Bill said innocently. Maria rolled her eyes at him and then gave him a little wink.

Turning back to the camera Bill spoke, "Maybe in the next film Liam- I'll teach you how to woo a woman."

"They'll only be ten, Bill!"

"Too young?" Bill asked to the ire of his wife.

"Slightly. And what about Lynn what will you tell her about the art of romance? You can't just teach Liam something and leave Lynn out." Maria had asked still pinned against the piano by Bill.

"Of course I have something lined up for my daughter. I'm going to tell her about all the great aspects of following her Aunt Adelaide's footsteps. I think my daughter would make a fine nun, don't you agree?"

The entire viewing room laughed at Bill's suggestion, especially after Lynn had let out an exasperated, "Nun?"

"Smart man, your father." The Captain said to Lynn. "That's a vocation all of you girls should consider."

Liesl, Louisa and Brigitta stared incredulously at their father, with mouths agape. Marta and Gretl of course having no idea the joke behind it quickly agreed with the Captain. Little Gretl climbing up on his lap said, "I'll be a nun for you father." The Captain gave a victorious smile to his remaining older daughters, smoothing Gretl's hair with his large hand.

"That's my girl." He said, kissing her forehead.

"I don't remember this part from last year." Lynn said looking again at the screen.

"That's because mother had turned it off during the spit scene." Liam's statement brought Maria out of her reverie. She had been so consumed with her lingering thoughts of the conversation she had yet to be able to have with the Captain she had forgotten to switch the reel off. Now playing on the screen was something no child should be watching as Bill had her image on screen locked in a passionate kiss against the piano in full view of the camera.

Vilhelm had a special viewing room set up especially for Bill's movies. The projector was housed in another room and Maria was running through her memories trying to recall if they had turned off the camera in time as she scurried to the room. Meanwhile she heard herself chastising Bill on the screen, while the Captain fought off his jealous rage.

"Bill," Maria had said pushing her arduous husband off of her, "Camera?"

Bill had stopped and looked over, regarding the running camera. "Yes it is Maria." He had cheekily replied then swooped back down to his wife. Maria pushed once again on his chest.

"Turn it off."

"Oh come on, I can edit it out later." He had replied while wagging his eyebrows at Maria.

"Bill!"

With a frustrated, "Fine.", Bill's hand reached over towards the running machine causing the screen to go black.

Maria had just reached the running projector when Liam cried out from the viewing room, "Mother! Wait, there's more to the reel."

Maria peered out of the projector room seeing that the image on the screen had changed to an outside environment. Walking back into the viewing room she was trying to mentally place just where it was that Bill had filmed. There were trees all around and Maria could see the camera nearing an expansive clearing. It wasn't until the camera took into view a large open gaped crevice of rock that Maria finally recognized the place.

From one side of the crevice to the other were two humongous fallen trees that created a natural bridge across the cavern to the other side. The cameras operator stood at the end of the land taking in the entire opened area of the crevice. The circumference was quite large, but it was the depth from the top to the bottom that was breathtaking. It had to be a good fifty feet to the bottom that was filled with water. Maria remembered as a child how tiny she felt standing on the bottom and looking up to the top. Whenever she and Bill went there as children there was an air of exhilaration, the place itself was forbidden and they simply loved breaking all of the rules.

"Is that the old quarry back home?" Vilhelm asked Maria as he stood by her filling his glass with more brandy. "I told you two never to go there."

An image of Maria appeared on the screen just then. She was setting up a picnic blanket by the edge of the quarry.

"Yes but that was when we were children." Maria replied innocently, "We were adults here."

Just then the image cut out then flickered back on, now the camera was set steady taking in the landscape and Bill was standing in front of it.

"Look, children, your mother and I used to come here when we were kids." Bill said proudly into the camera while the present day Maria smiled innocently at her father in law. Vilhelm cut Maria with his eyes, cocking his jaw to one side, while Bill continued talking into the camera. "There's another path from our home that leads to the bottom of the quarry. Your mother and I would sneak out on hot summer nights and swim down there." Bill winked into the camera, "Don't tell your Grandfather." Bill pointed the camera down to the water at the bottom of the quarry, while Vilhelm lightly slapped Maria upside her head.

"You two idiots, do you know how deep that water is?" Vilhelm asked exasperated.

"It's really not that deep." Maria replied making Vilhelm's concerns seem frivolous.

"No one knows how deep the water is." Bill continued on with his lesson.

Maria clenched her teeth together, still trying to charm her very angry father in law with a smile, "Shut up Bill!"

The image flickered again on the screen and now it showed Bill standing in his swimming trunks on the fallen trees. He gave a little wave to the camera then dove down into the depths of the quarry. The camera followed his body all the way down to the splash at the bottom.

"Jesus, Mary and Joseph!" Maria gasped at her Aunts outburst. She had never, ever heard her Aunt speak in such a way.

"What in the world were you two thinking?" Aunt Adelaide yelled at Maria.

"Me?" Maria asked as innocent as she could, "I didn't do that. It was Bill. I never went out there."

Once again the screen stilled for a second and then the image came on again. This time with Maria standing on the trees over the quarry with Bill standing next to her.

"Come on!" Maria cried in exasperation, looking up to the heavens for help. All she got for her prayers was another slap on the opposite side of her head from her Aunt.

Lynn and Liam were beside themselves with laughter, as were the other children.

"You got in trouble." Kurt choked out between his giggles. Funny, very funny, Maria said to herself. She could imagine that the next time she caught the boys in one of their creative new ideas for something fun, they would throw this in her face. She had already run out of fingers and toes counting how many times she had stopped these three boys from doing something that could have gotten them killed. Just yesterday she had sought the three of them out only to find that they had come up with the brilliant idea of taking the skis off of a sled. Their plan had been to ride the sled off of the boat house roof into the lake. She had scolded the three for at least twenty minutes about the use of common sense.

Now she turned her attention back to the screen, inwardly cringing, trying to come up with something that could counteract the leverage the boys now held against her. It had been years since this footage had been filmed and so much had happened between then and now that she couldn't recall the memory. Though she did know one thing for sure, she had never, ever jumped off that log.

"Okay Maria," Bill said to her on the screen, "It's your turn." The Maria on the screen stood with her arms across her chest shooting her husband a look that said there was no way she was jumping.

"Absolutely not."

"Why not?" Bill pushed her with patience in his voice. Maria looked down at the water then back up to her husband.

"No way, that's crazy. It's too far."

"It frightens you?" Bill asked, while readjusting the camera on its tripod.

"Well, yeah."

"Hmmm," Bill murmured looking out across the quarry. "I know taking that first step can be really scary. But sometimes," He turned to his wife, "sometimes you have to trust your heart and close your eyes and let fate lead the way."

Maria leaned over and looked down again at the water considering the distance, while Bill watched his wife with affection on his face. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and pushed one foot off the log. Shaking her head in defeat she planted her foot back down. "I can't."

"Let me ask you this," Bill said tucking Maria's hair back behind her ears. "If one of the children was down there, or Aunt Addy or myself and we needed your help, would you jump?"

"Of course I would. I wouldn't hesitate."

"Exactly."

Maria knotted her brows together, "Exactly what?"

"Exactly my point." Bill said flicking his wife's nose.

"And what is your point?"

"That you are brave and strong for everyone but yourself, Maria. Sometimes you have to take that leap for no reason at all, just simply to fall. No cause, no effect. My greatest wish in this life is that one day when the time comes you will find the courage for yourself and take that step and jump in feet first."

Maria looked down again at the water, "I could do it if you go with me and hold my hand."

Bill gently shook his head and caressed Maria's cheek, "No darling, you have to do this one on your own. Only you can take that first step," Bill gathered a confused Maria into his arms in a tight embrace, "only you."

"Why do I think you're not talking about jumping off of this log?" Young Maria sighed looking up to her husband with hooded eyes and a crooked smile.

"Because you know me better than I know myself, just as I know you."

"I love you." Maria whispered against his chest.

"I know you do. Maria, you have this great capacity to love. Except for the one person who needs your love the most." Bill tilted Maria's head so that he could look her in the face, "Yourself."

Husband and wife stood in a loose embrace with their foreheads touching. The sound of silence filled the scene on the screen and as if reaching over an invisible barrier of time and space it also filled the viewing room. There was a quietness about the couple that spoke volumes. Their communication was unspoken but the loudness of it could deafen an observers ears.

"I'm going to miss this." The Maria on screen whispered as the Maria in the room mouthed the remembered words.

"I know," Bill placed a gentle kiss against Maria's hair then started to lead her in a dance on the fallen logs, "me too."

There space had been limited but so had their movements. They started off simply swaying together when suddenly Bill began to lead her into parts of the Laendler. Together they giggled at their silliness while attempting the dance on such a confined space. Watching them together a strange sensation entered into the Captains chest. He could feel them. He could feel the pain, the hurt, the sorrow, the history of it all. He could feel their connection, the rebuilding, the trust, the bond and he gasped at the sensation that he was no longer an observer, but a part of them. Suddenly Bill stopped dancing much to the annoyance of Maria.

"Aren't you going to finish the dance?" She asked with her arm still above her head where he had left it.

"No," Bill shook his head then took Maria's vacated hand into his own. In a gallant move he kissed her knuckles, "it's not my dance to finish."

As Bill centered his gaze into the lens of the camera, the Captain's heart stopped beating, as the dead man's eyes found his own many years in the future. Holding out a confounded Maria's hand, Bill bowed on the screen while his eyes never left the Captains. With a wink, and a whispered "Sir", Bill released Maria's hand as if in offering to him.

With a sad smile and a caress to her cheek, he whispered, "It's time to fly, Maria." Then he jumped once more off the log and disappeared from the frame. The screen and the viewing room fell into darkness. Next to her, Maria could hear the Captain trying to regain his breath, just as she was doing. Maria's eyes tried to blink away what she had just seen; needing to center herself back to reality she reached out for an anchor. Flopping around in the dark she found the Captains hand that had been busy searching for hers, gently coiling her fingers inside his palm. How in the world could Bill have guessed so many years ago?

Maria's memories of that day came back slowly to her. She remembered now when Bill had filmed this she had thought that his disease had started to take over his brain functioning. The doctors had warned them all that when the time came, Bill would start acting peculiar. She had attributed his behavior on that day to this fact. Now seeing it through different eyes her heart swelled once more for her lost lover. Even in death he was still looking out for her, forever her knight in shining armour, forever saving her from herself.


	42. Chapter 42

Chapter 42

After the somber viewing of the last film, it had been suggested by Aunt Adelaide that they all retire to the music room. The Captain had hoped that her suggestion might erase the furrowed expressions from the children's faces, however after a few songs had been song it was clear that nothing was going to liven up this crowd. Not even a long rendition of "My Favorite Things".

He wondered what was going on through each little mind. His children were probably upset with the fact that in a few days the woman that they had all began to love as their mother was going to walk out of their lives for good. It was a hard blow when he put himself into their shoes. Having to lose two Mother's love in a lifetime was an unimaginable pain that he wished none of his children ever had to face.

He would lay his own life on the line here and now so that they never had had to face it. If he could have made a deal with the devil he would have to spare Agathe for the children. She was the one that they needed, not him. He was a sorry substitution for a mothers love. He had known this three years ago when he was helpless watching his wife die, just as he knew it now, watching the woman that he fell in love with leave him and his children just as their mother had. All these years later and he was still helpless.

How do you solve a problem like Maria, he wondered? How do you make a rainbow see its own beauty when all it sees is what it's not? How do you catch a soft wind before it passes you by? How do you stop a turbulent wave from crashing onto the sand?

Even now with him being so angry with her, so hurt by her actions, he wanted nothing more than to take a hammer to her shell and crack it open to find his way in. He wanted to cradle her and hold her and tell her it didn't matter about her past. But he knew now that wasn't going to work. She had to be the one to shed her shell and even now as they all sat gathered around the piano she wouldn't do it. He could almost visibly see her taping the cracked sections back together securing her cocoon back into place.

Out of the corner of his eye he could see Lynn and Liam bickering back and forth with a piece of paper. Lynn would push the paper towards Liam and Liam would push it back to her. Each telling the other to "Do it" while the poor paper wrinkled under their combined hands. Most everyone else in the room failed to notice the battle between the two as they continued to sing a silly song that Adelaide played at the piano. Everyone, that is, except for the Captain and Liesl who finally stepped between the siblings placing a calming hand upon each of their shoulders.

Again that day the Captain was taken aback by the actions of his eldest daughter. She was no longer a child and she was no longer afraid to hide that fact. Unmistakably the Captain did feel something in his heart break by this fact, but it was overshadowed by another stronger feeling that took him by surprise. Pride. His daughter was a woman and by the looks of it, she was a strong and intelligent woman. Yes, he would miss his little girl, but this woman that she was becoming he would like to get to know.

Pushing the twins towards their mother, the Captain heard Liesl whisper to them, "Both of you do it." With resigned faces the children walked slowly towards Maria. When Adelaide's song ended, the twins took one last look at each other then presented their mother with the piece of paper.

"Mother," Lynn began, "Liam and I wrote this song for you. We were wondering if you wouldn't mind singing it for everyone tonight."

For the first time in hours Maria smiled. She couldn't mask her pride for her children even if she had tried. That was one of the things that the Captain loved about her. No matter how bad her day was, no matter how little she thought of herself, in an instant whether she knew it or not, it was all forgotten when it came to the children. When it came to the children she was a fountain of love. It poured out of her freely filling each child in this room with a light. He worried that when his children lost her, they would lose that new light and it would become extinguished forever.

"You wrote me a song?" In awe she took the paper from the children, her eyes filling with tears.

"Lynn wrote the music. I helped her with the words."

"Just like you and father used to do." Lynn said shyly looking at the floor.

Maria's tears spilled over at the mention of Bill. "Yes, just like your father and me."

"Will you sing it, Mother?" Liam questioned.

Raising her sons chin up Maria smiled into his eyes, "There's nothing that would make me happier than to sing this song."

"Good," Lynn said coming over to the Captain, "Captain will you play the piano for Mother while she sings?" The Captain could hear Maria's intake of breath from all the way across the room. Suddenly he knew what the children were asking of him. He had seen the videos, especially the one made for their tenth birthday. It was always Maria and Bill at the piano, side by side. They were asking him to fill their fathers vacated seat. Meeting Liam's eyes across the room, the ones that used to pin him down, now willingly met his own with approval. The boy nodded his head and gestured towards the piano bench.

"Please Captain, you play…" Liam stopped himself on the word, "you are wonderful."

The Captain ran his eyes around the room meeting each of his children's gazes. They all seemed to say the same thing, only Louisa was brave enough to put it into words. "Please Father." She asked on a whisper. Louisa, who had taken her mother's death the hardest and who he knew still carried great grief in her heart over her loss, was asking him to take his place next to another woman. This meant a great deal to him. The children were letting them know that it was going to be alright. Now it was up to him and Maria to take that first step. On jellied legs he got up from his seat and walked towards the piano.

Halfway there he was stopped by the one man in the room that still hated his guts. Placing a hand on his shoulder Vilhelm looked him square in the eye. This is it, the Captain thought. If he couldn't get past this one hurdle he would stumble against all the others. If he fell here, there was no reason to get back up.

"My grandson is right." Vilhelm said surprising the Captain making him almost faint from the admission. It took him a moment to realize that he wasn't going to die. "When I am wrong I will admit it. And I was so wrong about you, Captain, and I owe you an apology."

"And I you." The Captain managed to choke out.

"You are a good man, Sir, and a tremendous father. I cannot thank you enough for what you have done for my grandchildren. You saved their lives this summer in more ways than one and that debt can never be repaid. And no matter what happens here in this room tonight," Vilhelm automatically held his hand up to silence Maria who still hadn't caught on that she and the Captain were in the middle of a coup. "You all are a part of this family. Each and every one of you. And I would like for you to keep in mind that England isn't the only country with shores. America has plenty of them and ships to go along with them. You will always have a home in America and I personally know of a company that could use your expertise." With that Vilhelm shook the bewildered Captains hand and pushed him over to the piano.

With a wink to the children Vilhelm and Adelaide exited out the glass doors at the front of the music room. There was an unmistakable lock sound heard as they closed the doors.

Finally getting up from her seat, Maria muttered under her breath. "Well that was rude. They didn't stay to hear the song."

Liam rolled his eyes at his mother while shaking his head. Liesl began to motion to the other children while Maria took her seat on the piano bench taking great pains to straighten the sheet music out. As the children began to file past the piano towards the back exit of the music room she stopped her fiddling, "Where are you all going? Aren't you going to listen to the song?"

"Another time Mother." Lynn said as she took Marta and Gretl by the hands ushering them out the back door. Maria and the Captain were turned around on the piano bench by now, watching the children leave the room. The Captain with a playful smile on his face as he watched all the children leave Maria bewildered and speechless and Maria with her mouth hanging open. "Tonight we want you to sing it just for the Captain."

Liam was the last child to leave the room. Facing inside the room, he grabbed the heavy French doors in his hands slowly walking backward and closing them at the same time. "Mom," he said just as the doors were about to slip closed. "Do you remember what you always told me when I was younger and I would fall down and cry? Do you remember the reason you told me about why we fall sometimes?"

Maria nodded her head, "So that we learn to get back up."

"That's the one. Mom, I think you need to take that first step and learn to get back up." Shooting the Captain a toothy smile the boy shut the doors. Again, the unmistaken sound of a lock turning echoed in the room.

Silence fell into the room as Maria continued to stare at the closed doors and the Captain at her. Bill had been right, Maria was darn cute when she was mad, but she was absolutely spell binding when she was confused.

"I think they just locked us in here." Maria stated more to the air then to the man sitting next to her.

He resisted the urge to flick her little upturned nose, "I think you're right." The anger that he had felt towards her for the past few days was slowly subsiding. It had started the moment he had laid eyes on her again and though he had tried to hold on to it to shield himself against her with it, it had started to crumble the moment she had made her admission about her part in her father's death. He had been trying to rebuild the walls since the film viewing when she had reached for him in the dark, but now sitting next to her on this bench he knew he would always leave a window for her to climb through.

The tricky part was getting her to do the same for him. Her walls were much thicker and had been there for decades. They were made of bad memories and horrible nightmares that he couldn't begin to imagine. If she would only let him in he might be able to convince her to stop living in the past and start making a future.

Both Maria and the Captain jumped from their silent thoughts when a loud banging was heard coming from the glass doors that Vilhelm had closed minutes ago.

"I don't hear any singing!" Vilhelm shouted through the glass panes.

From behind them another barrage of sound entered the room from a suspected tiny fist wrapping against the wood. Liam's demanding voice though muffled from the barrier carried across the room.

"Play the music!"

The two adults jumped to attention at their double verbal assault. The Captain's hands automatically positioned themselves to play the first notes of the music.

"I think we had better do as we're told, otherwise they might never let us out of this room." He said half in jest and half serious. In another time he would have been furious by the children's little coup, but he knew with Maria there was no other way. And the children knew her better than he did. This was sink or swim time, she simply had to figure out which she was going to do.

Tentatively he played the first notes of the song. When she didn't respond right away, he stopped playing and looked upon her. She was quickly reading the words written down by her children. He watched as her internal battle raged within her. Sing the song or build another layer to her wall. Biting her lower lip she reached the last line of the song. At first she shook her head and he thought she was readying the cement for the first brick of the new layer, but then she slowly nodded and looked him in the eye.

"I'm ready." She simply said and then fixed the music so that he could better see it.

This time when he played the first note her voice filled the room with solemn conviction. The way she sang the melancholy song tore a gash straight through his heart. By the second line he knew he never wanted to hear her voice hold so much conviction for a tune unless it was uplifting and happy again. By the end of the third line it became his silent vow for her to never hold that much sadness in her heart.

In every heart there is a room  
>A sanctuary safe and strong<br>To heal the wounds from lovers past  
>Until a new one comes along<p>

I spoke to you in cautious tones  
>You answered me with no pretense<br>And still I feel I said too much  
>My silence is my self-defense<p>

And every time I've held a rose  
>It seems I only felt the thorns<br>And so it goes, and so it goes  
>And so will you soon I suppose<p>

But if my silence made you leave  
>Then that would be my worst mistake<br>So I will share this room with you  
>And you can have this heart to break<p>

And this is why my eyes are closed  
>It's just as well for all I've seen<br>And so it goes, and so it goes  
>And you're the only one who knows<p>

So I would choose to be with you  
>That's if the choice were mine to make<br>But you can make decisions too  
>And you can have this heart to break<p>

And so it goes, and so it goes  
>And you're the only one who knows.<p>

When the song was finished, the only sound heard in the room was the resounding thudding of their synchronized hearts. How the children took such a complex situation and put it into such simple words he would never understand. But he was sure thankful that they had.

"I won't break your heart." He whispered to end the silence.

From the corner of his eye he could see Maria blinking against his statement coming out of her reverie.

"But I might break yours." She finally replied.

The Captain reached down and took her hands into his own. "It's yours to do with as you please." He ran a reassuring finger over the top of her delicate hand. "Crush it, stomp on it, love it…I don't care what you do with it. Just don't walk away from it." He placed his arm around her shoulders and leaned her into his side. Ducking her head under his chin he leaned into the scent of her hair placing soft kisses on top of her head. He felt her body soften in his embrace and felt the wetness of her sobs against the skin of his neck.

"Why do you want me?" She choked out against his skin. "Can't you see I'm broken? I'm no good for you."

"No Maria. I'm the one who was broken and you fixed me. I once offered to do the same for you, but I don't think that you are broken. I think you feel you should be and you won't allow yourself to believe that you aren't. You're punishing yourself for something that you were forced to do."

Crying deeper into his neck she mumbled, "You don't understand. I could have walked away, but I didn't. I could have…"

He stopped her confession by taking her by the sides of her face and bringing her eye level to him. "You don't have to tell me."

Nodding her head between his hands, she closed her eyes. "Yes I do.", Then took a deep breath beginning the tale that lay deep within her soul. "When I was ten Bill's mother died. It wasn't until her death that Bill and I found out that she and my father had been lovers for years. Before Gertrude's death my father had been hard to live with. After her death, he became intolerable. He drank…a lot. Most days from morning to night. And when he drank he was mean. And I always seemed to be in his way. Bill's house was over the hill from ours and it became my safe haven. I would run there after…" She choked on her words here. "After the beatings. When I stopped going over to him, that's when Bill…he knew…he knew…"

Maria's lips started to quiver uncontrollably. He didn't want to hear what she was holding back. He had suspected that your childhood hadn't been the greatest. The beatings he could live with, but if what he now suspected had been a part of her past his rage might tear him apart. How could a father do that to his daughter?

"He knew…" Maria tried once again to get the words out, but she lost herself to the painful memory and cried uncontrollably against his chest. He tightened his grip around her. What he wouldn't give to take her pain away.

"You don't have to say it, Maria. You don't have to say the words." He soothed.

"Even if I don't say it, it doesn't change the fact that it happened."

"I know, darling, I know." The Captain's hands clinched into tight fists. In his mind he imagined them around a dead man's throat.

Regaining some of her control, Maria continued on with her tale. "When I didn't go over to his house for a couple of weeks, Bill came and sought me out. At first I tried to hide it, but somehow Bill had known without me saying. Later, after we were married for a few years I asked Bill how he had known. He said he could tell by my eyes. He said the light was gone. The beatings had been pretty bad for a couple of years by then but they had never put the light out in my eyes, he had said. And he was angry, so so angry. And frustrated that there was nothing he could do to stop it. My mother did nothing, Vilhelm chose to be oblivious. He was helpless. Until he got the idea to blackmail my father. He snuck into my room one night and filmed what my father did. Then he made a second copy of the film and gave it to my father. He told him that if I ever showed up on his door step again with so much as a hint of a bruise or if he ever laid a finger on me again he would show his copy to the proper authorities. Bill was only trying to help. He didn't know that it would send my father over the edge."

While Maria took a moment to catch her breath, the Captain studied an internal feeling welling into his chest. He was so thankful that Maria had had Bill in her life and suddenly the pain of her grief settled into his heart. Bill had been a good man when most were still boys. He wanted nothing more than to be able to go back in time and take those two lost children into his arms and protect them from all that they had lived.

"After Bill's threat, life in my home calmed a bit. For a short while I had begun to believe that the nightmare was over. Now I realize it was just the calm before the storm. My mother did too. She had known the entire time what my father had been doing. She had witnessed the beatings herself and the other, well…I think she knew. The night my father lost it, my mother tucked me into bed. She had never done that before. Ever. At least that I can recall. And she told me to hide, if I heard anything out of the ordinary."

The Captain watched as Maria became lost in her memories. For long moments he sat silent, afraid that any sudden movement might cause her to go back and never be able to find herself out of the nightmare again. He understood her darkness better than she thought he could. He too had seen and done things in his past that ordinary people who never took part in a war couldn't begin to understand. The war may long be over, but the consequences of his actions would live on past his own demise. That was something he had to learn to live with after rejoining society and it had been a long and winding road. One wrong turn, and well, he too could have become like so many of his comrades. Only finding solace at the bottom of a bottle. Like Maria who had had Bill to lead her out of the darkness, he had had Agathe. She had been his patient savior.

Kissing Maria on the top of her head he whispered, "It's alright Maria. You don't have to go back there for me. Whatever happened that night happened. You did what you had to do."

"No, Georg, I need to do this." Raising her head she looked him in the eye, "I need to tell you."

The determination in her eyes took his breath away. She was doing this for him and it broke his heart that she felt the need to drag herself to her lowest point just for him. At the same time it filled him with more love than he thought he could ever hold for a person. She was sacrificing so much of herself to open up for him it was overwhelming.

"My father did come to my room that night. I had heard some strange noises and my mother screaming, so I had hid under my bed. When I tried to run out of the room, my father shot his gun. He hit the doorjamb instead of me. I ran down the hall but I tripped on the hem of my dressing gown. My father picked me up by the neck and dragged me down the hall to his parlor."

"Which explains your hatred towards dressing gowns." He nudged her shoulder with his own and gave her a little wink. Sometimes finding a little humor can go a long way and by the look in her eyes he could tell she was in need of some right then.

"See, I told you this story was going to be enlightening." Smiling for the first time in what seemed like a thousand years. "When we got to the parlor," her smile faded as she continued, "When we got to the parlor…Daniels father laid dead on the floor. There was blood all around him. I had never seen…I'll never forget the look in his opened eyes." The look of death, the Captain had seen that more times than he cared to remember. "And my mother was sitting at my father's poker table. I can remember wondering why she hadn't run from the room while my father was fetching me. It wasn't until he sat me in the chair next to her that I realized he had tied her to the table. He cut the ropes that tied her then sat a gun in the middle of the poker table. Then he sat opposite us and told us that we were going to play a little game. He took three bullets from his pocket and made a show of putting them into the gun. He said that no one was leaving that room alive but he wanted to watch my mother and I die before he did. He called us vermin and filth. He told us we were his puppets and he wanted to see his puppets perform one last time. He spun the chamber around in the gun after putting the bullets in. Then he handed me the gun and said I was to go first."

The Captain couldn't help the strangled sigh escaping his lips. In a million years he couldn't have imagined this scenario. He also couldn't imagine anyone surviving it, physically or mentally. Let alone a thirteen year old child.

"I remember picking the gun up. I can still feel how cold and heavy it was in my hands. I knew what he what he had wanted me to do without him even telling me. I put the gun to my head and then my father took another gun from his pocket and pointed it at my mother. He said that if I tried anything stupid, he would shoot my mother in front of me and then kill me himself. I remember praying that the bullet would be in the chamber when I pulled the trigger. When nothing happened I started to cry. My father told me hand the gun to my mother. Then he pointed his gun at me and told my mother the same thing had had just said to me. I stared into my mother's eyes as she pulled the trigger. Again the gun didn't go off. Now, my mother wasn't the smartest of woman, but I guess even she figured out that the probability of the next chamber holding a bullet was pretty high. My father told her to hand the gun back to me. My mother looked me in the eye and said, 'I'm sorry, but either way he wins.' At first I thought that she could hear the thoughts that I was silently sending her to point the gun at my father and shoot the bastard. But then she pointed the gun at me and shot me." Maria reached up and fingered the scar on her neck. "The force of the bullet made me fall off my chair to the floor. I can't remember what happened, I just remember hearing my father's chair scratching against the wood floor. I remember he was yelling something and then there was another loud bang. When I opened my eyes my mother was lying next to me on the floor. There was blood oozing from where her right eye once was. The gun was still in her hand and there was smoke coming out of the barrel."

The Captain ran his fingers through his hair. "Jesus Christ." He said over and over again. He fought the urge to get up and pace the floor. He needed to pace, he needed to leave the scene that Maria's tale was creating in his mind behind. But she needed his comfort more so he tightened his grip around her shoulders instead.

"My father grabbed me and put me back into the chair when he realized that my mother hadn't killed me. He placed the gun in my hand and told me to finish myself off. I picked the gun up and put it to my head. I remember counting…counting the number of clicks. I didn't know if my mother had tried more than once to find a bullet to end her own life. But the probability was high that the next chamber held a bullet." Maria's hands started to shake, "With the gun against my head, I cocked the trigger. I wanted to end it. I wanted to die, but then my father he snickered something, and then I wanted him dead. I don't know what made me move my hand, I think it was Bill. For a split second I thought of Bill and him finding me dead the next day. After losing his mother it would have killed him to have lost me too. I had to stay alive for him. So I moved my hand at the last second and I shot my father. The bullet hit his shoulder but unlike me he didn't fall off of his chair. I can still remember the look in his eyes. He was surprised that I had done it. He was surprised that I had bested him. But he wasn't dead. I could have run then. I could have gone to Bill and the police could have taken care of my father. But it wasn't enough. It would never be enough. Like my mother had said, either way, he wins. So I picked up the other gun that my father had dropped and I pointed it at his head. And I pulled the trigger." Maria looked the Captain in the eyes, "I killed my father, not in self-defense, but in cold blood."

_Sorry guys, I'm leaving you another cliff hanger. But the clock just struck and it's time that I get ready for work. So..here you go, I hoped you liked it and I hope that Maria's story answered some of your questions. Please, please tell me what you think! I hope it wasn't too much._

_The song "And so it goes." Was written and recorded by Billy Joel and was the actual inspiration for this entire story. One day I heard it on the radio, and boom, like a lightning bolt I somehow got the idea for this story in my head. Maria's Bill was named in honor of Billy Joel. Which actually was kind of a good thing for me, because the name itself can be bent into various forms. Vilhelm and Liam for example._


	43. Chapter 43

Chapter 43

_"My father grabbed me and put me back into the chair when he realized that my mother hadn't killed me. He placed the gun in my hand and told me to finish myself off. I picked the gun up and put it to my head. I remember counting…counting the number of clicks. I didn't know if my mother had tried more than once to find a bullet to end her own life. But the probability was high that the next chamber held a bullet." Maria's hands started to shake, "With the gun against my head, I cocked the trigger. I wanted to end it. I wanted to die, but then my father he snickered something, and then I wanted him dead. I don't know what made me move my hand, I think it was Bill. For a split second I thought of Bill and him finding me dead the next day. After losing his mother it would have killed him to have lost me too. I had to stay alive for him. So I moved my hand at the last second and I shot my father. The bullet hit his shoulder but unlike me he didn't fall off of his chair. I can still remember the look in his eyes. He was surprised that I had done it. He was surprised that I had bested him. But he wasn't dead. I could have run then. I could have gone to Bill and the police could have taken care of my father. But it wasn't enough. It would never be enough. Like my mother had said, either way, he wins. So I picked up the other gun that my father had dropped and I pointed it at his head. And I pulled the trigger." Maria looked the Captain in the eyes, "I killed my father, not in self-defense, but in cold blood."_

"Maria," the Captain began after she had gone silent, but the words he was searching for couldn't be found. He had lived through an entire war and had never witnessed such a horror as what her tale depicted. "Maria," he began again silently wondering if there was any hope of pulling her out of the darkness, "you did what had to be done."

"Did I?" She questioned him, pulling out of his embrace. "Or did I simply take the coward's way out? What I did makes me no better than him and I live with that every day. The knowledge that I am just as much a monster as he was- I understand what my mother was trying to tell me right before she took her own life. He won, Captain. I may still be the one that is living and breathing, but he killed everything that is good within me. So in the end, he won."

Grabbing her by the shoulders before she could move off the bench the Captain steadied her before him. With gentle hands he cradled her face and smoothed a thumb along her faded freckled cheek. "I don't believe that, not for one minute and neither did Bill and I believe deep down, neither do you. Stop punishing yourself for something that you had no choice in, Maria. You didn't ask to be dragged into that situation. You didn't ask to have a gun placed into your hand that night. But let me tell you-tonight before I lay myself down to sleep, I will drop to my knees and thank the good Lord in heaven that he saw fit to give you the will to survive it. For had he not, we wouldn't have Lynn and Liam on this planet with us, who are a light of God, and I wouldn't have had you to save me from myself. You are no monster Maria, you're an angel from God himself…albeit a tested one, but an angel none the less."

Within his hands that still cradled her face Maria shook her head. "How can you say that after everything I just told you?"

Internally the Captain voiced a disgruntled sound that could have been deafening if had he let it out. In all of his years he had never met anyone as stubborn as….well…himself. Ironically it was his late wife's voice inside is head that calmed his temper. It simply said, "Patience, my dear." He almost laughed out loud when the irony hit him. Leaving him to ponder how many times Agathe had had to say those very words to herself while dealing with him.

"How could I not?" The Captain answered her question with one of his own, while gently brushing an escaped tear away. "If I can't believe that about you, then what may I ask, would I believe of myself? You killed one man to my hundreds. If you are a monster for that, then what does that make me?"

The Captain shuttered as he spoke the words that he had never confessed to another living soul before, not even Agathe. He had long ago buried the guilt that came with the hundreds of shattered souls that he was responsible for. But he knew of no other way to reason with Maria than to use himself as an example, even if doing so he had to unearth painful memories. What would Austria think of their great naval officer had they known that he wrestled with the demons of his past. Would they still think of him as a hero or see him as the coward that he really was?

"Georg," Maria began and automatically the Captains heart clenched when he saw her turn from the consoled to the counselor. And he considered himself the luckiest man on the face of the earth to have this woman sitting here in his arms. Even now with her soul gaping open- wounded and bleeding before him—her concern was all about him now. God himself had created this perfect heart that sat in front of him. His only fault had been to place it into a mind that couldn't see it for itself. As she finished her sentence he fought back the tears that threatened to fall from her grace, "it was war. You did what you had to do. Horrible things- I'm sure they were terrible things- not because of what you did, but because of who you are. Gentle Captain," she gingerly wiped away a fragile tear, "you're not a bad person for fighting bravely to defend your country. The country that you love and its entire people along with it—if they only knew how very much you loved them all. How much of yourself that you had to sacrifice to keep them safe. Oh Captain, that doesn't make you a monster, but a saint."

"So here we are," the Captain said on a deep breath, "the saint and the angel, two of heavens creatures, lost in life."

Maria shook her head and nuzzled it into his neck wrapping her arms around him tightly. "You're not lost." She whispered into his flesh.

"No, not anymore I'm not. But I was once, not too long ago. I was lost in my own darkness, forsaking the life that God had given me and the children that Agathe had blessed me with. Then the good lord saw fit to give me a beacon of light to find my way back home again. And she's sitting here in my arms lost in her own darkness. If only I could be the same light for her that she is for me. If only I could make her see me through her fog, then I could lead her to my harbor." The Captain removed her head from his shoulder and held her face in front of him. "Open your eyes Maria," he commanded and when she did he almost drowned in the sorrow he saw there. "Can you see me, Maria? Can you see my harbor?" With quivering lips she slowly nodded her head, "Then anchor yourself here and together we will stand the storms of life. Together we are strong."

"You still want me?" Her voice was gossamer thin as her sobs overtook her body. Cradling her against him, he lifted her up from the piano seat and carried her over to the nearest sofa.

"Always Maria, I will always want you." Carefully he placed her on the soft material then laid himself behind her spooning his body against hers in a cocoon. "I don't think I could even imagine a life without you in it." He melded his form into her and rested his head in the crook of her neck. He breathed deep her scent—she smelled of lavender and rose—she smelled of home and he never wanted to leave it again. He lay his hands against her chest and felt the rhythm of her heart beat against his palm, his own heart synching to the beat.

They laid in silence for a while. The emotional events of the evening had left them spent. Exhaustion was about to claim him when he felt a tug on the hand that draped over her body. Bringing it up to her lips, she gently kissed his knuckles then pressed his hand to her face. "I will go with you to England." She whispered into the silence of the room and his heart began to thud in his chest. He had done it…finally.

"You would do that for me?"

Turning in his arms she took his head into her hands. "If that's where you're going then that's where I am going. If being a sea Captain is what makes you happy, then I'm not going to stand in your way."

"But you hate the idea of what lies ahead for me in England."

"I hate the idea more of not spending the rest of my days with you, so I will go and die a little each time your ship leaves port. And I will wait on the shores and pray for your safe return." He couldn't help the little smile that tugged on the corners of his mouth. The fact that she would sacrifice so much for him—well it said the three words that she had yet to speak. Even if she never said those words out loud, she didn't have to. He knew now without a doubt.

His exhaustion was chased away by a sudden carnal hunger. In an instant he became a famished beast of nature, ready to devour his prey for his own. Crashing his lips down upon hers he seared her with a kiss that took his own breath away. Before he lost all of his senses he broke the kiss and rested his forehead against hers. She had to know the truth before he couldn't control himself any longer.

"I've had enough of that life, Maria. I've had enough of war and death, of hate and anger. I'm not going to England. I resigned from the position two days ago."

"You did?" She asked filled with confusion and vulnerability.

"Yes, Maria." He rolled her underneath him. "I didn't think that spending months at a time away from my future wife was in my best interest." He said on a chuckle while placing soft kisses against her skin. His hands were acting on their own accord, one rubbing circles against her hip while the other found interest in the swell of her breast.

"Wife?" Maria asked in that husky voice that only he could create and the simple fact that it belonged to him and him alone did wonders to his libido.

"Yes, Maria, wife." He placed a kissed on the worried lines between her eyes, "In case you aren't sure who that is..It's you. I want the whole thing, it's all or nothing. I want the wedding, the marriage, the babies…"

"Babies?" She asked with a panic filled voice while pushing at his chest. "We already have nine children combined. You couldn't possibly want…"

"We can round it to an even dozen." He cut off her protest with his answer while stifling a giggle. He loved her like this. Only moments before he was saluting himself for his victory over her will and here she was once again exercising it. He prayed there would never be a day that she didn't challenge him with something or another. She was damn cute when she put up a fight. "Three more- boys if you wouldn't mind. We already have too many girls." He licked her pursed lips, and then dipped his tongue into her mouth. She may have been resistant to what he was asking for but she wasn't putting up too much of a fight along the way. Especially when she sucked on his tongue the way she was doing now and making the throaty sound that echoed in his ears. "Six girls too many," he said when he finally won his tongue back, "Six girls that I have to worry about. Six girls that will have six men come along and want to do to them what I am craving to do to you right now."

Leaving her with no doubt as to what he was referring to, he swirled his hips against her center, letting her feel his meaning. He took it as a sign that she understood his intent when she threw her head back and purred, "Georg!"

Not long ago, he had wanted his life to be over. He had thought that he didn't have a reason to live another day, now he was sure, he couldn't die without hearing that sound at least a thousand times or more in his lifetime. God had blessed him with Agathe. A patient and wonderful woman in her own right, she had filled his youth with a happiness that he never believed could belong to him. She had taught him to see the beauty in love and how to give and accept it. Then, like a thief, God had stolen the gift back from him and he had thought it was because he had been undeserving. How wrong he had been. How arrogant and ignorant of him and only now did he understand the error in his thinking. God only created. What we do with his creations is up to us. The roads and the hills, the detours and the tragedies, they were all a part of the deal and in the end; it wasn't what God gave you that mattered but how you changed his creation into something beautiful. Maria painted the world beautiful with her smile and her grace and most especially her heart. She was a gift that he would never forsake, even if it killed him to do so.

She was writhing underneath him and panting with want and need. Somehow his hand had found its way under her skirts and was now tracing a path up her velvet leg. He wondered if there would ever be a time that he could control himself when he was with her. She conjured this animal in him that acted on its own primal instinct, even now as he was trying his best to wrangle the beast back into its cage he wasn't sure that the gentleman in him was going to win. Hadn't he promised himself only hours ago that he wouldn't take her again until she was his wife? Yet here he was stroking her into a frenzy all the while stoking his own internal inferno.

"Marry me, Maria? Tell me you'll marry me." He more growled the words than said them. He hadn't the breath right now for talking, but he needed her answer in order to continue.

"I-I", Maria faltered on her words as she fought with his jacket and shirt trying to find his skin. If she succeeded he would be lost, "I—we'll talk about it in the morning." His blood ran cold at those six simple words. Hadn't they been the same six words she had said to him the last night she shared his bed? When he had woke the next morning only to find her gone and her promise the night before broken, slashing his heart into a million pieces. Those six simple words were all it took for him to regain his senses. He grabbed her hands and stilled her movements, then sat up away from her leaving her looking bereft and lonely.

"No," he said pushing her grasping hands away from him, "no Maria. I told you—it's all or it's nothing. You have to jump into this, feet first. You have to let everything go. Leave it all behind you, including Bill. I have let Agathe go, it hurt deeply to do it, so believe me when I tell you I know exactly what I am asking of you. But I also know that you are here and now and it would kill me to lose you too. There can't be three of us in this relationship. It's you and me…that's it. And until you let him go—well, I just can't," he lost himself on the last words. Staring down at the floor he let a tear slip from his eye. He didn't want her to see the pain that she was causing, that wasn't fair to her. She needed to make this decision, not for him, but for herself.

He left her on the little couch and walked to the back doors of the salon. He almost turned around twice, the haunting vision of her hurt eyes pulling on his conscience. He was the one hurting her now and it tortured him to do so, but he hoped against all hope that it would be the very thing that would pull her from her darkness once and for all.

When he got to the doors, he pulled the pocket knife out of his pants pocket. The thin blade fit into the lock and with an easy twist the lock on the doors broke free. He let out a sigh and spoke to the doors, "I love you Maria. You should know that I will always love you. And if you will let me I would live the rest of my days with you by my side, step by step. But I can't make you take that first step. You have to take that one on your own." With his final words he opened the doors and stepped out into the foyer. Closing the doors behind him, his heart sank into the pit of his stomach when she didn't run after him.

Somehow he made his feet walk across the floor and it was the sound of his clicking heals against the tile floor that now reverberated in Maria's head. The sound bounced around in her brain while her heart beat pulsed in her ears. What the hell just happened, she asked herself over and over again. She knew she should feel upset but instead she simply felt—angry. Didn't he know what he was asking of her was impossible? Why couldn't he simply accept what she could give him? She wanted to flair out at him for making this so difficult.

Her blood was rushing through her veins and she kept her mind focused on the anger, quelling her heart to shut up. The darn vessel was once again letting itself be heard and was trying it's best to get her to hear the questions that she didn't want to answer. Would it have been enough for her? Would she have settled if he had told her that she had had to share him forever with a dead woman? She fought against the answer, wrestling it around in her brain, but it came out all the same. No. It wouldn't have been enough.

"I'm sorry, Bill." She whispered into the silent room. Tears leaked from her eyes when his voice didn't come out of the darkness to soothe her as it always did. She waited and waited for him to come back to her and when he didn't it was then she realized that he was gone. She steeled herself against the pain that she was sure was going to flood her heart from the realization. When that didn't come either she focused on what she did feel…free.

When she heard the sound of the Captains car engine roar to life, the words "Jump, you fool," echoed against the wall of the silent salon. She looked around the room to see who had shouted the command when her fingers rapped around her own throat when she realized it had been her own voice, her vocal chords aching from the abuse.

Her feet followed her command and sprang to life as she heard the Captains car go into gear. Running out of the room across the foyer, she sprinted to the back of the house going out the side door near the end of the long drive. She slipped three times as she flew across the dewy grass of the entrance lawn in hopes of cutting off the Captains retreat. She didn't know what she was going to say to him, all she knew was, she couldn't let him leave. She thought that if he did she would lose him forever and the fear of that drove her to a maddening pace.

When she reached the end of the grass she could see the Captains car just turning into the road out of the drive. Switching directions to cut him off on the road, she pushed her muscles to the limit as she jumped over the edging bushes, landing onto the roadway in a heap. Getting herself up off of the ground she stood, just in time to hear the Captain slam on his breaks. His tires screeched against the gravel of the road, on instinct she held her hands out in front of her, bracing for impact. Closing her eyes tight as his headlights blinded her, she thought, 'this is the last image that I will have in my life. My lovers' car barreling at me at top speed, but even if I die here on this road then he'll know that I loved him. I was a coward before for not telling him, but now at least he'll know.'

She imagined the car smacking into her knees as the horrible screeching sound continued. She saw herself flying backwards onto the pavement and flying up to heaven above. When the sound stopped and she didn't feel any pain, she slowly opened her eyes. Pushed up against her knees was the Captains chrome bumper, she could see the indent the metal left in her skirts. But she was alive! Though glancing at the Captains furious face through his windshield with his fingers still locked around the steering wheel at ten o'clock and two o'clock, she wasn't sure for how long she would be.

"Hallo!" She said the word to him in her most jovial tone, not able to fight off the smile that came to her lips from his absurd expression.

Nor could she fight the giggle that erupted from her throat when he threw the car into park while cursing under his breath. Then he struggled with the door handle slapping at the uncooperative gadget when it didn't open fast enough. This was her Captain. Her burly, angry, gentle, loving Captain and she loved him. She loved him for all that he was and all that he wasn't and all that they would be together.

He came charging out of the car, with arms flying around in the air about him all the while yelling at her at the top of her lungs.

"Goddammit woman! I could have killed you! What in the world are you doing?"

Slowly she walked towards him, her face hurting from the broad smile plastered on it. Silently she wrapped her arms around his neck, stilling his frantic movements by shushing him. Then she reached up and whispered into his ear.

"I'm standing on a log high above the water. I'm closing my eyes and I'm stepping off. Jumping in feet first. Will you catch me at the bottom?"

He stood silent for long moments, studying her face. More than likely making himself believe the words that she was telling him. Taking her face between his two large hands, he kissed her hard on the mouth. "Yes…I will catch you Maria. I'll never let you fall."

Running her fingers through his hair she brought his other ear up to his mouth and whispered a secret into it. When she was done speaking he twirled her around in a circle then gently placed her back on the ground. Smoothing his hand against her cheek he replied, "I love you too."

THE END

_**WOW, IT WAS THE HARDEST THING TO WRITE THOSE TWO LAST WORDS. I WANT TO THANK YOU ALL FOR TAKING THIS LONG JOURNEY WITH ME. When I started this story I had no idea how long it would take me or what an adventure it would be. But I am thankful that you all stuck around til the end with me…it was you all with your kind words that kept me going and I will be forever grateful.**_

_**I wanted to say that the children, Maria's twins, were loosely based on my own children. When I started to write this I knew that I wanted to give Maria at least one child. My own son has the same disability that Liam has, to an extent. When I started to write the character I was going to have the story evolve more around what the Nazi's did to people with disabilities, but then I really couldn't bring myself to do it. So it is mentioned, somewhat, but not to the extent that I had planned. My daughters character, Lynn, was brought about when I decided to give Liam the same disability as my son. I had realized that if one day, many many years from now, my daughter read the story she would be hurt that I had a character like her brother, but not one depicting her.**_

_**You see with twins there is this great love between them, but also a great rivalry. A woman that we know, who herself is an identical twin, explained it best to me. She said when you have a twin, they are always there. When you are children you are forever grouped as a pair and you are forever fighting to be an individual. Raising my twins, I understand what she means. And it annoys me when people write about twins in the very stereotypical way that they are sometimes depicted. Twins are just the same as any set of siblings. They fight, they get along, they fight again, they get along, and then they fight again. They have their own minds and own interests. **_

_**Anyways, thank you all again. And please, please let me know what you think of the end. I hope I didn't let you all down. I may write an epilogue in a few days. Or I might leave well enough alone. But I feel that Maria and Georg have a little bit more to say before it's all over! We'll see.**_


	44. epilogue

EPILOGUE

"Would you all please stand and welcome for the first time, Mr. and Mrs. Von Trapp." The gathered guests all stood as the giant doors slowly opened revealing to the ballroom the smiling couple. As the bride and groom made their way to the dance floor, Maria had to block out all the whispers from the crowd trying desperately to imprint the image perfectly onto her brain. She never wanted to forget this moment for as long as she lived.

When the bride and groom had finally reached the middle of the floor amongst great applause, the announcer once again chimed in. "Our bride and groom have asked that you all share the first dance of their lives together along with them." The orchestra fired up the first chords as husband gently led his new wife into the slow waltz.

"May I have this dance, Mrs. Von Trapp?" Georg brought his face into her sight, breaking Maria out of her entranced viewing of the young couple on the center of the dance floor.

"Well, of course, Captain," she replied holding out her hand for him to kiss, "it would be my honor."

Georg took her extended hand, bending over to kiss it; he skimmed over her white gloved wrist and skipped straight to her lips. "You're incorrigible." She replied, blushing as the other guests walked past them to the dance floor with knowing smiles on their faces.

"After ten years, I would have thought that you had already figured that out." Georg placed his hand on her lower back leading her to the floor. Once they got there, he automatically placed them into a waltzing position then spun them softly around the floor. "And I don't think the proper word is 'incorrigible'." He whispered into her ear, "I think it's insatiable." A shiver ran down Maria's spine as his words licked inside her ear. Ten years later and this man could still turn her blood hot with just words. When she looked into his eyes and saw the promise that was there for her later, she couldn't help but feel once again what a lucky lady she was.

"Oh I don't know," she played back with him, "I think that's going to require more of a debate on our part."

Georg pulled her closer to him, a move she already knew he was going to do. As a matter of fact, she had counted on it. "A debate you say? I'll have to take some notes first…do a little research…" he bent down and whispered into her ear again, "I know how prepared you are for debates, my Fraulein." Oh my! The man wasn't playing fair. He knew what calling her that in the way he had just said the word did to her. Although to be honest, she hadn't been fair from the beginning when she had called him Captain. Their former titles had somehow, over the past ten years, become a part of their foreplay. "I want to make sure I can hold my own," he bent down and growled his last two words into her ear, "against you." He had to strengthen his grip around her waist to keep her knees from buckling beneath her. Chuckling from his obvious victory he quickened their steps into the waltz. The debate was over.

Resting her head against her husband's shoulder, she glanced over at the bride and groom.

"They are so young, Georg." She said into his suit jacket.

Letting out a long sigh, he nudged her face off of him, forcing her to look into his eyes, "Maria, at their age you were already a widowed mother to two toddlers living in a foreign country on your own." He glanced over at the young duo, who was smiling into each other's eyes. "He looks at her the same way I still look at you." Taking in a deep breath, "They will be alright as long as they have each other."

"But…" She left her words in her throat. If she let them out she would surely break down into tears in the middle of the reception. She couldn't do that to the bride and groom. They meant too much to her.

"But what, darling?"

"But they are our babies." Maria's eyes filled with tears, though she fought hard against them falling from her eyes.

"They will always be our babies, darling." He bent down and placed a tender kiss on her forehead. She didn't miss the slight quiver of his lips against her skin or the bride's quick glance in their direction. Nor did she miss the bride informing the groom of her observances, who then turned his gaze onto the older dancing couple with worry in his eyes. As fast as she could, Maria plastered a smile on her face and gave the young couple a wink of reassurance. "And we have many more children to marry off, so we had better get used to this."

"Yes, but thankfully never two at the same time again." Maria nonchalantly wiped her unshed tears against her husband's coat.

"Thank God for that." Georg replied stealing a glance at their dancing children. "I don't think I could survive another engagement and wedding such as this. And here I had thought Liesl's wedding had prepared me for the rest. How wrong I was."

At the mention of her oldest daughter, Maria scanned the crowd for her. When she found her, a true unchallenged smile formed on her lips, as she watched poor Liesl attempt the waltz with her swollen belly. Their oldest had married almost two years ago to the day, and was now seven months along with their first grandchild.

Not three days after Liesl's huge wedding to a hotel magnet's son, Georg and Maria had been interrupted in their nighttime retreat of solitude by a knock on their bedroom door. They hadn't been surprised when they had opened the door to find a nervous Lynn and Kurt on the other side. In truth they had been expecting the two children to corner them for a talk for some time; they just hadn't expected it to be so soon after their first child's departure from their home.

It had been painfully obvious after the first few years of Georg's and Maria's marriage that all of the children had blended into a family—except for the relationship between Lynn and Kurt. They didn't see each other as brother and sister and it almost tore the family apart.

That is until Vilhelm stepped in and took Georg and Maria aside when Lynn was fourteen and Kurt fifteen.

"You and Bill lived in my home as brother and sister, Maria. And yet, even before the two of you realized your true feelings for each other, I had. There was no way that I could have kept the two of you apart, just as you know this of Kurt and Lynn. Yes, you and Georg are married, and your union does bond these two as brother and sister. But they are not of blood and they didn't ask to be put into this situation. The heart wants what the heart wants and when I look at them—I see the way that your father and my wife looked upon each other. I see the way that you and Bill were together. And now you and Georg. Their love is good and has a foundation that most search for their entire lives and never find. But these two have found it, in each other, and they will face many hurdles in their lives. Don't make the biggest one be the disapproval of their parents. For I fear, that one they will not overcome and it will be the end of them."

After Vilhelm's little speech, Kurt had moved out of the von Trapp house and into Vilhelm's. 'The Grandfather' as all of the children always referred to Vilhelm—for he was the only grandfather that any of the children had ever known—had taken Kurt under his wing and taught him the family business along with Daniel who Maria had placed as CEO in Vilhelm's retirement. In hopes that one day he would run the business since Kurt was the only child interested in it to begin with.

Liam had taken a job with a government institution called Nasa, after his early graduation from MIT. However much Maria hated science, Liam loved it. He was currently working on a secret government project that would launch the first man into outer space. Maria glanced over at her son dancing with his date for the wedding. She was a beauty of a girl and when she smiled into her son's eyes, Maria's mental clock started ticking away to the next wedding.

Louisa had followed in her mother's footsteps and was a teacher at the local elementary school. She was currently being twirled around the dance floor by the head master of her school who was her date for the wedding. Next to her on the floor was her sister Brigitta who was dancing with the young man she had brought with her from New York City where Brigitta was a journalist for the New York Times. Though she had only held the position for six months, her reviews had been outstanding. Maria could almost feel the change Brigitta was bringing into the world of writing for women. And she couldn't have been prouder.

"What do you think of our daughter's dates?" Georg asked Maria as he twirled her around so that he could keep a better eye on his daughters. She opened her mouth to answer, but before she had the chance he cut her off with his opinion, "They look shady to me."

"That's what you said about Liesl's husband when you first met him."

Georg narrowed his eyes at the two gentlemen dancing with his daughters, "I still think he's shady."

"But you went golfing with him the other day and said you had the best time."

Maria was sure that the gaze that he was shooting the two men across the floor must have been burning the back of their heads.

"Whatever." Georg answered her as he spun her around again searching for two more of his daughters.

"Who is that talking to Marta and Gretl?" Now his lazerbeams burned across the room finding two more innocent victims. Maria rolled her eyes at her husband. With all of these daughters, the man was going to have a heart attack.

"Friends of theirs from school." Maria replied in her most exasperated voice trying to show her husband how silly he was being. It didn't work.

"Where are they going?" Georg's eyes had become frantic as he watched their two teenaged daughters walk out the glass doors at the back of their ballroom into their garden with the two young men.

Another couple on the floor bumped into them, pulling Georg's attention back to the dance floor.

"How is he holding up?" Daniel asked Maria as he and Elsa settled in and danced next to them.

"Not well." She gave her pair of friends a wink. "He's watching his remaining daughter's pair off with men. At this rate I don't think he's going to make it through the day."

"Should I be worried about my son?" Elsa asked as she hid her laugh from Georg.

The two couples began searching for their children on the dance floor. They weren't hard to find since most that remained out on the floor had made a wide birth around Elsa and Daniels son and his young dancing partner. Though dancing was hardly the word Maria would have used to describe what the two ten year olds were doing.

Daniel Junior-or DJ as he was affectionately known—was leading Maria and Georg's oldest combined daughter Little Adelaide—or LA as she was called by the family —in the waltz. She was gently kicking his knees as he was pulling on her red braids.

"I don't think we have much to worry about in their case." Georg beamed at the two children. Both of which had been conceived in Austria and born on American soil one month apart. And were the very reason that their parents shared a wedding anniversary. Both couples had been married on the voyage over to America by the Captain of the ship that had carried them to their freedom. Vilhelm von Helstin.

The same night that Maria had finally professed her love to Georg and had promised him forever had been the very same night that the Anschluss had quietly occurred. Two days later, the entire family, along with Daniel, Elsa, Max, Aunt Adelaide, and Sister Margaretta had set sail for America. One day into the voyage Elsa had confessed that it wasn't from seasickness that she wasn't able to hold down any food and Maria had begun suspecting the same for her own condition.

With a cocked jaw, Vilhelm had stared the two male culprits down from the newfound predicament of which they found themselves- both of the which- hadn't been able to hide their proud smiles even under the new 'Captains' scrutiny. So Vilhelm had ordered the two women into gowns and the men into formal suits. During their second dinner on the enormous cruise ship, the two couples had been married on the upper deck just as the sun had set on the Mediterranean Sea. When they reached the port of Malta, Vilhelm had docked the ship and offered the couples the best honeymoon accommodations that he could muster. Having his men add a tug line with a smaller yacht attached to it, then another line with just as nice of a yacht attached to that. It was the best honeymoon they could have asked for. They waved to the children every day from their deck and spent a week and a half in splendid solitude.

Seven and a half months later, DJ had been born. Maria had stayed by Elsa's side during the entire delivery and had been the first to hold the little gentleman. When he opened his eyes for the first time, Maria could see straight into his heart. It was the one of the most beautiful things she had ever seen and the moment had just settled upon her when the child in her belly gave her a ferocious kick. At that moment she didn't doubt she carried the perfect counterpart to the one she held in her arms. One month after that, Little Adelaide came kicking and screaming into the world.

Just like Maria, Elsa had been by her side, though, that had been a fight with Maria's doctor since unlike Elsa- Maria couldn't have a natural birth at home. Since the twins were born via Caesarian, she would have to have all of her deliveries this way in a hospital. Normally, no one was allowed into the operating room with the mother who was put down under heavy anesthesia, but this didn't deter Elsa. Oh no, she would NOT be stopped and she hadn't been. Elsa had been a force to be reckoned with and her efforts along with Sister Margareta's quiet way of making the doctor feel guilty for any transgressions that he may have incurred against God had changed the stubborn doctors' heart. By the time Maria had her third delivery, the doctor didn't bother to argue anymore. He simply stood to the side of the door with a sweeping gesture, allowing Elsa full access to the operating room.

DJ, though only a month older never failed to remind LA of this. Growing up on adjacent properties the two spent more time with each other than the rest of the family, though sometimes, Maria and Elsa couldn't fathom why. Since not a day went by that one mother or the other didn't have to put an end to one of their spontaneous arguments.

"Oh I think we should be most worried about them." Maria said with a reminiscent smile on her face and a glimmer of hope in her eyes. "They remind me of two people I once knew."

When Maria had decided to name her and Georg's first child after the only real "mother" she had had in her life, she had no idea what she was setting herself up for. Though LA shared no blood with her namesake, she couldn't have been more like Aunt Adelaide if she tried. From the moment she had been born she had been a spitfire. From the bottom of her toes all the way to the top of her head that was crowned with blazing red hair that matched her personality and no one could figure out from where it came.

That is until Vilhelm cleared the matter up for them on LA's first birthday when the discussion had come up once again.

"I didn't realize that you had no memories of your father before the stress had stolen the color of his hair, Maria." Vilhelm had said, after the group of adults that had been discussing the matter of the mysterious hair color had quieted from all of the over the top suggestions of its origins. There had been throw outs to the "milk man", "postman", as well as the old butcher from back home that had kept the small familiar crowd laughing with outrageousness as Georg had gotten more and more agitated. Especially after Max had announced that he had red hair in his gene pool, which had prompted Maria to halt Georg's advances once again, towards Max's throat. With all of that going on they had missed the melancholy look that had snuck onto Vilhelm's face.

"I remember when your father and I were children, how I would tease him." Vilhelm continued with a faraway look in his eye while a sad chuckle escaped his lips, "All of the boys we went to school with would chase him around the playground, they had a special game called, 'get red'." Vilhelm had lifted his eyes, looking straight into Maria's then, "She has your fathers red hair and your mothers green eyes."

Watching her daughter now, twirling around the dance floor with eyes sparkling, red braids flying and her laughter floating around her, Maria felt the sense of peace that the girl had brought into her life. She had come full circle, finally finding the strength to forgive her past and relish life in the moment. Hugging her husband close to her, she pressed a kiss to his cheek. If it hadn't been for him—well—she didn't want to think of what all she would have missed if he had given up the fight.

"What was that for?" Georg chuckled into her ear.

"For never giving up on me, for taking my hand and leading me out of the darkness."

She felt more than heard him suck his breath in as he fought with his emotions. Ten years later and they still carried some wounds from the beginning and some that came after that. But in reality, they wouldn't be the couple that they were today if they hadn't fought battles along the way that made them stronger together. And no matter how hard it had been or would be- she still wouldn't have changed a day.

"Ah, my Fraulein," he breathed into her hair, "you are so, so mistaken. I didn't lead you anywhere. I simply held your hand and took the same path along with you." He kissed the top of her head, "Scared out of my mind, but brave with you by my side." Then he flicked her nose, "And I would do it all again."

She was about to break into an emotional pile of mess on the dance floor at her children's wedding. She needed to lighten the mood before she let that happen.

"You wouldn't change a thing?" She asked him, purposely adding the teasing tone to her voice, for she sensed in him the same she felt within herself.

"Well," he replied, looking around the ballroom. She followed his path with her eyes, first finding LA again, then their second birth, a pair of identical twin girls, Lillian and Gillian. The two brunettes', who were so much like their father in looks and their mother in spirit, were twirling each other around the floor. Then his eyes found their last birth. Their much unexpected set of fraternal triplets- Johanna, Janine and Jessica. They were five now and still kept their parents on their toes. "Actually if I recall, I had asked for three boys when I proposed to you. You gave me six girls with three pregnancies. That's not exactly what I ordered."

"I do apologize, Captain." Maria chuckled remembering Georg's reaction from each delivery. When the triplets were born he had actually asked the doctor if he wasn't sure that there was still one more in there. A boy, perhaps, he had said. "We could try again."

"Oh my God…NO!" He bellowed into her ear, loud enough for only Maria to hear. "With each pregnancy your numbers keep going up, but the gender remains the same. Forget it!"

Maria had planned to surprise Georg after the wedding with the little piece of news that she had been hiding for two weeks. However, she figured now was as good as a time as any to let the cat out of the bag.

"Well, that might be out of our hands, right now, Georg." She sheepishly raised her eyes to his which were wide with fake fear. At least she hoped it was fake fear.

"You're not! Tell me you're joking." She let her crooked smile answer for her.

Over his groan she said, "It could be a boy."

"It won't be. It'll be four more girls."

"And would that be such a bad thing?"

Her husband once again swept the crowd. Finding his oldest to his youngest, he brought his eyes back to hers, "Absolutely not." Then he kissed her gently on the lips as the waltz ended.

Taking a quick glance around the room, Maria found her youngest children being led to their table by their governess. Friedrich followed closely behind, helping the young girl of nineteen, with her children.

"What are we going to do about that?" She quietly asked Georg as they walked to the back of the room. They were greeting guests while holding a private conversation in whispers.

"What can we do?" Georg asked nonplussed. It totally annoyed Maria that it didn't bother her husband in the least that their oldest son was obviously falling in love with their governess and she with him.

"Oh I see, like father like son." It wasn't that the girl was their employee that bothered Maria of the pairing, but of the fact that the girl was on loan to the family from the nearby Abbey that was now run by Mother Margaretta.

"What does that mean?" Georg turned on his wife with danger in his eyes. "She isn't that much younger than him." Maria rolled her eyes at her husband. He was hung up on their age difference; always had been. Only she wasn't talking about the age difference between these two people, but of course that was the first thing he jumped to.

"I'm not talking about the age difference," edging him on a little, "besides compared to us, I would call the differences in their age minor." She held back a chuckled when he swung his narrowed eyes in her direction.

"I'm talking about..you falling in love with your children's governess."

Shucking his tongue against his teeth, Georg waved a dismissive hand towards Maria, "You were my children's tutor. Not their governess."

"I was supposed to be the tutor. But really I ended up being the governess, tutor, councilor…you know now that I think of it. I think you owe me money."

Throwing his head back in laughter as he reached for two champagne flutes, "I'll pay up later." He handed her a glass and they both sipped as they watched the interaction between Friedrich and the young governess, Fraulein Julie. Maria simply sighed and shook her head. There was no need for intervention by the way things were looking at that table. It was already too late, though she suspected that neither Friedrich nor Julie had figured it out, yet. They were in love. There was no doubt about it. The only question was, should they let them figure it out on their own or give them a little nudge.

"What was it that Vilhelm said, 'the heart wants what the heart wants.'" Georg quoted as he threw back the rest of his champagne. "I'll talk to Friedrich tomorrow."

Reluctlanly Maria finished, "And I'll talk to Julie."

"I think they will be very happy together." Georg said as he continued to study them. Friedrich was bouncing one of the triplets on his knee while Julie was singing them a song.

"Yeah, so do I."

Later on, after they had feasted. And the father and daughter and mother and son dances, and the wedding cake was cut. As the crowd fell into enjoying the remaining part of the reception, Maria pulled Georg toward the back doors of their ballroom.

"Where are we going?" He asked as his wife tugged on his arm.

"Tomorrow is our wedding anniversary." She looked at him over her shoulder, "I don't suppose you remembered."

Letting out a guffaw he replied, "Of course," in a not so believable tone.

"Well, I want to give you your present early."

"Mother where are you going?" It was Liam that had stopped his parents at the doors.

"To show your father his present."

"You're doing that now?" Liam had been in on the secret with Maria as well as all of the older children. The younger ones didn't know the significance of the gift and well…they simply couldn't keep a secret. "Can we…?" Her son, who was now a man, asked in the most shyest of voices.

"Of course, my darling."

Like the Pied Piper, Liam gathered his brothers and sisters around him, including the wedding couple to follow their parents out into the gardens. Like little ducklings they traced through the garden paths from oldest to youngest, the triplets wreaking havoc behind the crowd with Vilhelm shooing them along.

When they were about to round the highest hedge and enter into the clearing, Maria placed her hands over Georg's eyes. Leading him out into the open expanse of their lawn that looked high above the lake that bordered their property she walked him to the center of the field for the unveiling.

Once all of the children had gathered around them and before the little ones could yell out their surprise from the new building in their yard, she gently lifted her hands from Georg's eyes. "Surprise, darling."

It took him a moment to focus and then another to fully comprehend what he was seeing.

"Is that…" His question hung in the air as he moved closer to his gift. Walking into the glass doors, he turned around and around the glass shelter, looking from floor to ceiling and running his hands on the wood. "It is, isn't it. This is the real thing." He found a notch in the wood on the door frame, "This is where Kurt carved his name with a pocket knife when he was seven. Look it's still here. This is the real building, you didn't have this made. This is my gazebo from Austria." He looked to Maria with unbelieving eyes, "How did you?"

Maria hung her head. The gift came from the heart, how and why she had acquired, also killed her to remember. It was all still raw, but, as Aunt Adelaide said, life goes on.

"Last month when I brought Aunt Adelaide's ashes to Nonnberg. I went by your old house. For a fair price, I bought it from the new owners and had it shipped here. It arrived two days ago and while the wedding was going on I had our men bring it and set it up."

"This was yours father back in Austria?" Little Gillian, who idolized her sister Lynn and took after her with her gentle nature and love of music, ran her hand on the piano that sat inside the gazebo.

"No." Maria clarified for her younger children, "The piano belonged to my first husband, Bill, Lynn and Liam's father. And the gazebo that we are all standing in, your father had built for his first wife Agathe, Liesl, Friedrich, Louisa, Kurt, Brigitta, Marta and Gretl's mother. You see children," Maria sat on one of the benches placing a five year old on each knee and one between her legs and gathering the rest of the younger brood around her, "Without Agathe or Bill we wouldn't have the family that we have today. Nor would your father and I have found each other. Though the two had never met in life, they are an important part of our family. And I wanted a way for us to remember them and have them always here, close to our hearts. Your mother Agathe loved this gazebo that your father had built for her. And your Father Bill loved his piano. And now, we get to share in their love and make memories in their hearts."

Maria looked up in time to see Georg wipe a tear away from his eye. Giving him a smile and a wink she watched as the older children did the same as their father.

"That was beautiful mother." Liesl said whose pregnancy hormones got the best of her. However, her sisters Louisa and Brigitta were there to offer her comfort.

"Mother you're not supposed to make me cry sad tears on my wedding day." Lynn half laughed, half moaned as she swiped at her eyes and her new husband Kurt ran a reassuring hand down her back with tears in his own eyes.

"No, my daughter, no more sad tears when we think of our past. Only happy ones from now on. Knowing them both the way I do, they would have wanted us to fill this gazebo with laughter and smiles." Getting up from the bench she grabbed two chubby hands into each of her own, "So let's do that now. First memory…how about a family dance! Lynn, play us something fun!"

Laughing, Lynn sat on the bench of the piano while the rest of the family went out into the lawn. "The Laendler!" Lynn cheered as she played the first chords of the song. The rest of the children paired off to dance. Suddenly Kurt cut off his father's approach to Maria.

"May I have this dance?" He asked, bowing to Maria.

"Why it would be an honor." Maria joked back.

Together they started the awkward steps. Well, they were awkward to Kurt, she had never actually taught the dance to any of their children. Her deceased grandparents were probably rolling over in their graves at Maria's lack of keeping family traditions alive.

She was just getting into the dance when the tempo changed a little. Seeing Lynn exit the gazebo, Maria realized that Vilhelm had taken over the role of pianist for her daughter. Reluctantly Maria stopped dancing with Kurt.

"Hey," Kurt said, "aren't you going to finish the dance?" He asked.  
>Completely unaware that his new bride approached from behind him.<p>

"No Kurt," Maria winked at him, then took his hand and placed it into her daughters, "it's not my dance to finish." Her two children smiled at her. Both smiles were filled with relief at the idea that their mother truly accepted their union. Stepping back, she let them start up the dance together.

"It looks like you don't have a partner for the rest of the dance." Georg said from behind her. Turning around Maria faced him. He had the crooked little smile on his face that belonged solely to her and when she looked into his eyes she found home. Without asking, he simply held out his hand for her to take, but in order to do so, she had to step forward.

Maria thought back to a time when she would have hesitated to take his hand. Now, nothing could restrain her from doing so.

"Thanks for asking." She said stepping forward and holding out her own hand for him to take.

"Thanks for taking that first step." He said, reaching out and grabbing her hand, pulling her the rest of the way to him.

"Thanks for jumping with me."


End file.
